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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 



DISCOVERY OF THE CONTINENT IN 1492, 



FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR INDEPENDENCE. 



BY RFA'. LA BOY SUNDERLAND. 



Written for thr S. S. Union of ihe Methodist E. Church. 




NEW.YORK, 

PUBLISHED BY B. WAUGH AND T. MASON, 

For the Sunday School Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 

at the Conference Office, 200 Mulberry-street. 

J. Collord, Printer. 
1834. 






en% 



" Entered according to Act of Congiess, in the year 1834, 
by B. Waugh and T. Mason, in the Clerk's Office of the Dis- 
trict Court of the Southern District of New-York." 



^/y^r 



DEDICATION. 



To the Youth connected icith the Sunday School 
Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
Dear Youth :— I have written the following 
pages expressly for you. There are a great 
many reasons why you should become acquaint- 
ed with the history of the country where you 
were born, and the particulars by which that 
country is disUnguished from other portions of 

the world. 

Among other things you have probably beef? 
taught, and certainly you should never forget, 
that your highest interests, and your greatest 
felicity, depend on your being good ; and it is a 
truth of equal importance, that the second object 
of your existence is, that you may do good. 

To secure both of these objects, therefore, 
your Creator has put within your power the 
means of becoming intelligent and wise, of im- 
proving your minds with knowledge, by which 
you may be qualified, in some sense, to be use- 
ful as long as you live. 

What an unhappy thing, then, must it be tor 
any one to grow up in ignorance, especially 



4 IIPDICATION. 

when the means of instruction are every where 
multipUed in such abundance. Let me hope, 
therefore, that you will feel it a pleasure to seek 
instruction by reading and studying the history 
of the country in which you live. Study to be 
good and to do good ; so when you are advanced 
in life, you will not find yourself unfit for the 
society with which you may be surrounded, nor 
be constrained to say, " How have I despised 
instruction, and my soul has hated reproof!" 
La Roy Suisderlatcd 



PREFACE. 



The following history was undertaken at the 
request of the editors of the Sabbath School and 
Youth's Library of the Methodist Episcopal 

Church. 

It embraces an account of the discovery ot 
the American continent, and the various settle, 
ments made by different nations, within the pre- 
sent limits of the United States ; together with 
notices of the population, government, rehgion, 
arts, and employments of its original inhabitants. 
It also describes the growth of the colonies, the 
many distressing wars and calamities in which 
they were involved, and a particular detail of 
the'circumstances which finally separated them 
from the government of England, and established 
their national independence. It is interspersed 
with narrations of many interesting incidents and 
remarkable facts ; and the whole is accompanied 
with observations and reflections designed to 
illustrate and set forth the most prominent fea- 
tures in the manners, customs, and government 
of the people of this country. 

It has not been the author's aim to adapt his 
language to the nursery in the composition of 



6 PREFACE. 

the following pages, because the book may pos- 
sibly be read by young people. He has endea- 
voured to avoid the too frequent dryness of mere 
annals on the one hand, and the tiresome diffuse- 
ness of laboured description on the other, and 
to render this book such a one as may not be 
read without some pleasure and profit, both by 
the young and the old. 

No history in the world presents so many 
interesting combinations of piety, wisdom, patri- 
otism, and daring enterprise, as that of these 
United States, and none exhibits more striking 
instances of a Divine Providence in the govern- 
ment and direction of the aliairs of men. For 
this reason its study should be one of the first 
things to interest the attention of our youth, 
while its pages may assist the pleasing remi- 
niscences of riper years. 

The want of time prevents that revision and 
polish which this work ought to receive before 
it goes to the press ; but this is impossible, as 
every page of it has been written in the course 
of a few weeks, while the author has been under 
the hands of a physician, and upon a journey for 
the benefit of his health. 

New. York, Sept. 8,1834. 



INTRODUCTION. 



History — Its object — Advantages to be derived from 
its study. 

1. History, in general, is a narrative, or 
description, of past or present events. It calls 
up and sets before the mind of the reader the 
causes which have contributed to the formation 
of the characters of eminent men, as well as 
those which have aided more or less in the rise 
and fall of empires. It sets before us instances 
of virtue and patriotism, which are worthy of 
our imitation, while at the same time it warns 
us against the repetition of those vices, which 
have always been followed with misery and the 
curse of God. 

2. The dealings of God with his intelligent 
creatures, his disposition toward them, and his 
general government over the world, may be 
traced on the pages of the faithful historian. 
Here we learn that there can be no real pros- 
perity without his blessing ; — that he holds the 
sceptre of universal dominion, and dispenses his 
blessings upon nations and individuals, that he 
may secure their faithfulness in the discharge 
of the various duties which they respectively 
owe to him. 

3. The people of these United States enjoy 
many blessings, with which no other nation 



8 INTRODUCTION, 

since the beginning of tiie world was ever 
favoured. Hence it becomes exceedingly im- 
portant for all to acquaint themselves with the 
means which have made this nation what it is ; — 
that we may acknowledge our gratitude to the 
great Disposer of all events, and learn not to 
forfeit, by our vices and infidelity, the manifold 
mercies by which we have been distinguished. 



HISTORY 



UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER I. 

Discovery of America by Cabot and Columbus. 

1. That portion of the world generally deno- 
minated America, was accidentally discovered 
in the attempts which were made in A. D. 1492, 
to reach the East Indies trom the ports of Europe. 
There is no evidence that this continent was ever 
known to any of the ancient Europeans previous 
to this time. The Portuguese, some years before, 
had attempted to find a passage to tiie East Indies, 
by sailing round the southern extremity of x\frica, 
but without success. 

2. It is supposed that these efforts of the 
Portuguese, together with the circumstance of 
pieces of carved wood, a canoe, and two human 
bodies, of a different complexion from any known 
to Europeans, having been driven, by westerly 
winds, upon the shores of some islands which 
lay near to Europe, induced Christopher Co- 
lumbus to engage in the enterprise of seeking a 
passage to the East Indies, by sailing directly 

west. 

3. Columbus himself, however, was not able 
to meet the expenses of such an expedition ; 



10 HISTORY OF THE UMTED STATES. 

but unwilling to abandon it on this account, he 
applied tor assistance from his native city, 
Genoa. The appeal was ineflectual. His coun- 
trymen saw no cause for advancing funds to aid 
in an undertaking which appeared to them so 
perfectly futile and visionary. 

4. This enterprising navigator made a num- 
ber of unsuccessful efforts to obtain assistance, 
and it was not till he had spent a number of 
years in fruitless begging, that he finally sue- 
ceeded in obtaining the help which he so much 
desired. This was granted by Ferdinand and 
Isabella, who were then on the united thrones 
of Castile and Aragon. 

Columbus set sail from Palos, in Spain, on the 
3d of August, 1492. His fleet consisted of 
three vessels, the Santa Maria, Pinta, and 
JVina, which were manned with ninety men, 

5. In nine days after his departure he touched 
at the Canary islands ; and after having taken 
in some provisions for the voyage, he began 
again to trace his way upon the trackless ocean. 
They had proceeded about six hundred miles 
from the most westerly of the Canaries, when an 
event occurred which exceedingly alarmed the 
pilots and mariners. It was observed that the 
magnetic needle did not point, as usual, directly 
to the north star. Columbus, however, con- 
trived some method which seems to have quieted 
their fears for awhile ; but this quiet did not last 
long. The crew now became generally discon- 
tented, and some of them insisted, peremptorily, 
on his immediate return to Spain ; others pro- 



HISTORY OF THE U>ITED STATES. 11 

posed to cast liim into the sea, and return with- 
out him ; and they were pacitied only by his 
promising to return, if land should not be dis- 
covered within the space of three days. 

6. Happily, at ten o'clock in the evening of 
October 11, a light was discovered by Columbus, 
which was hailed with loud acclamations of joy, 
as the sign of their immediate approach to land. 
The whole crew kept watch that night in sleep- 
less anxiety. Early the next morning the boats 
were manned and armed, and they put for the 
shore. In the meantime, the sight of their 
ships, arid their music, had drawn multitudes of 
the natives to the surrounding shore, who were 
seen gazing upon this strange scene with min- 
gled emotions of astonishment and surprise. 

7. Columbus, with his drawn sword, and 
richly ornamented with his finest dress, stepped 
first upon the land ; the crew followed, when 
they all fell upon their knees, and kissed the 
ground with tears of gratitude and joy. Co- 
lumbus took possession of the island in the 
name of his king and queen, by erecting the 
flag of his country, and calling it San Salvador ; 
but the natives called it Guanahaiii. 

8. Columbus tarried at this island but a kw 
days, and then proceeded to make further disco- 
veries. October 27, he discovered the island of 
Cuba, which he called Juanna. He sailed from 
Cuba on the .5th of December, and on the fol- 
lowing day discovered Hayti, which he called 
Hispaniola, in honour of his own country. 
While here, he unfortunately lost one of his 



12 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ships. By this misfortune the sympathy of the 
natives was exceedingly excited. They brought 
their canoes to save what they could from the 
wreck. The Indian cazique, or chief, prepared 
a house for the accommodation of the Spaniards, 
appointed his men to guard their property, and 
did all in his power to promote their comfort. 

9. On January 16, 1493, Columbus set sail 
for Spain. They were overtaken by a most 
violent storm, February 14, and threatened with 
immediate destruction. In this extremity the 
admiral and the whole crew united in commend- 
ing themselves to the care and protection of 
almighty God. To prevent the total loss of his 
discoveries, he wrote an account of them, folded 
the manuscript in a piece of oiled cloth, and 
sealed this up in wax ; and putting it into a light 
cask, he threw it into the sea, in hopes that if 
himself and crew were all lost, this writing might 
float to some distant shore, and make known the 
success of his adventures. 

10. But Columbus and his companions were 
providentially preserved. On the 15th of March 
he arrived at Palos, where he was received with 
joy, and distinguished with special marks of 
honour by the king and queen, under whose 
patronage he had sailed. 

The fame of this voyage led the way for the 
discovery of America. This honour, however, 
was reserved for two Venetians, John Cabot, 
and his son Sabastian. The father, under a 
commission from Henry Vli., king of England, 
commenced the voyage v/hich resulted in this 



HISTORY OF THE U>'ITED STATES. 13 

important event, in May, 1497. This voyage 
was undertaken with the hope of finding a north- 
west passage to India. On June 2'ith they dis- 
covered Newfoundland, and a few days after 
St. John's ; an island which they so named, 
from the circumstance of its having been first 
seen on the day of John the Baptist, which is a 
feast day among the Roman Catholics. They 
then stretched along the coast of this new world, 
till they had proceeded as far south as Florida. 
The want of provisions, and difficulty among 
the sailors, now induced them to return to Eng- 
land. It was upon the discoveries made in this 
voyage, that the English founded their claim to 
the eastern portion of North America. 

11. The spirit of discovery now began to 
spread itself extensively throughout Europe. In 
1499 a voyage to the new world was under- 
taken by Alonso de Ojeda, who had formerly 
been an officer under Columbus in his first 
voyage. Ojeda was accompanied by a Floren- 
tine gentleman of more than ordinary accom- 
plishments, by the name of Amerigo Vespucci. 
It was the interesting account which he gave of 
the new continent, which led to its being called 
America^ after his name. 

12. No attempt was made to settle a colony 
in any part of America, which is now included 
within the bounds of the United States, till the 
year 1502. And this first attempt appears to 
have been started by religious persecution. It 
was planned by a company of French Protest- 
ants. They are supposed to have landed some. 



14 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

where within the present limits of South Carohna, 
where a fort was built. The effort, however, 
was unsuccessful. 

13. In 1584 two ships were sent to America 
by Sir Walter Raleigh. They arrived on the 
coast of North America, July 4. They first 
landed on the island of Wocokon, and proceed- 
ed to take formal possession of the country in 
the name of the then queen of England. They 
then went to an island called Roanoke, which 
lies at the mouth of Albemarle sound in North 
Carolina. After continuing here awhile, and 
trading with the natives, in September they re- 
turned to England. The description which these 
adventurers gave of this new country on their 
return, so interested Queen Elizabeth, that she 
determined to call it Virginia, in commemoration 
of its having been discovered during her reign, 
and while she was unmarried. 

14. After this, a number of unsuccessful ef- 
forts were made, at ditierent times, to efiect the 
settlement of a permanent colony on this coast. 
In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold sailed from Eng- 
land to the coast of North America, by a new 
route. Instead of taking the Canaries and West 
Indies in his course as others had done before 
him, he sailed directly west, and in a veiy short 
time he discovered land. To one place he gave 
the name of Cape Cod, from the circum.slance of 
a large quantity of cod fish being found in the 
waters around it. He also discovered Martha's 
Vineyard, Nantucket, Buzzard's Bay, and one 
of the Elizabeth Islands. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 15 

CHAPTER II. 

British Colonies — The first permanent settlement in 
Virginia. 

1. The first permanent settlement which was 
ever effected \vithin the limits of the United 
States was commenced in 1607. A fleet of 
three ships, under the command of Christopher 
Newport, with about one hundred emigrants on 
board, sailed from England in December 1606. 
A storm prevented their landing at Roanoke, as 
they designed, and by whicli they were driven 
to the north as far as the Chesapeake Bay, into 
which they entered, April 26, 1607. Until the 
middle of the next month they were employed in 
searching for a suitable place for commencing a 
settlement. They finally landed and took pos- 
session of a place about forty miles from the 
mouth of the Powhatan River, but which they 
called James River. They immediatel}^ proceed- 
ed to fell the trees and make preparations for 
their intended settlement, and in honour of the 
king under whose patent they sailed, the place 
was called Jamestown. 

2. The government of this colony consisted of 
a council of seven persons, who were appointed by 
the company under whose auspices they had sail- 
ed. The names of this council, together with the 
instructions from the king, were brought over from 
England with the emigrants, sealed up in a box, 
and were not made known to any one till after 
they had gained the place of their destination. 

3. These adventurers had proceeded but a lit- 



16 HISTORY OF THE UMTED STATES. 

tie way in their labours, before they were thwart- 
ed by sad calamities. Before the conclusion of 
this year, the store house, containing their pro- 
visions, took fire, and was entirely consumed, 
together with the principal part of their private 
goods and dwellings ; and during the summer 
and fall more than fifty persons died from the 
effects of the chmate. 

4. In November, of this year. Captain John 
Smith, who was a member of the council, started 
with a company of fifteen men to discover the 
source of the Chickahominy. He was very 
soon after surprised by the Indians and taken 
prisoner. The Indians, it is probable, were pro- 
voked to this attack by Captain Smith's conduct 
toward them before this, as he had cheated the 
natives, it seems, in his attempts to obtain corn 
of them, and at one time he had stolen an idol 
from them, for the redemption of which they paid 
a large quantity of corn. This conduct in Cap- 
tain Smith was certainly reprehensible, exceed- 
ingly so ; and as the sequel proves, it like to 
have cost him his life. 

5. He was now carried in triumph through a 
number of their villages, to their chief or king. 
After being detained six weeks, a council was 
called to deliberate on his fate. He was doom- 
ed to have his brains beaten out with a war club. 
To this end he was forcibly dragged to a couple 
of large stones which had been brought for this 
purpose, his head was placed upon them, and 
the weapon of death raised to complete the work 
of destruction. At this moment, Pocahontas, a 



HISTORY OF THE Ur^ITED STATES. 17 

favourite daughter of the king, rushed to the pri- 
soner, clasped his head in her arms, and in tears, 
entreated her father to spare his hte. She pre- 
vailed. The war club dropped from the brawny 
hand of the savage, and in two days after Smith 
was sent back to Jamestown with twelve Indians 
for his guides. 

6. It is not known that the natives, found in 
any part of this country, were ever unkind to 
strangers unless they were first provoked to re- 
venge by the whites. On the contrary, they 
were always hospitable to such as approached 
them as friends, and seemed to feel pecuhar de- 
light in administering to their wants. When 
Captain Newport and his company first landed, 
after their arrival from England, large numbers 
of the natives came down to the shore to confer 
with him on the object of his coming ; and when 
the English made signs of peace, they were re- 
ceived by^ the untutored sons of the forest with 
the utmost cordiality and friendship, and were 
offered as much land for the purpose of settle- 
ments as they desired. 

7. In August, 1607, a company of emigrants 
to the number of one hundred sailed from Ply- 
mouth, England, and landed on a peninsula or 
island, at the mouth of Kennebec River. The 
first thing they did after reaching the shore was 
to hear a sermon from their minister, after which 
the laws were read by which they were to be 
governed. The ships in which they sailed re- 
turned in the following December, and forty-five 
persons were left in the colony. But these be- 



18 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

came discouraged in the course of the next year, 
and where so overwhelmed ^\ ith a series of mis- 
fortunes that befell them, that they all returned to 
the mother country, and the colony was given up. 

8. The company in London, for colonizing 
Virginia, in 1609 obtained a new charter from 
the king, with greater privileges than the first. 
They immediately despatched nine ships, with 
five hundred emigrants on board, to augment the 
rising colony ; but all of them did not arrive till 
some time in the fall. Circumstances now 
seemed to render the natives jealous of the in- 
creasing numbers of the whites. Accordingly a 
plan was fixed for their destruction ; and but 
for the timely notice given by the same girl who 
saved the life of Captain Smith, (see 5, above,) 
this plot had proved latal. She was now only 
about twelve years of age, and yet, at the ha- 
zard of her life, she walked to the settlement 
of Jamestown, in a dark and dreary night, on 
purpose to make tlie English acquainted with 
her father's design, whicii had been formed 
for their destruction. This attempt of the na- 
tives was provoked by an attack ^^•hich a party 
of the whites made on some Indians at the falls 
of James River. 

In the beginning of 1610 the colony became 
exceedingly disheartened and reduced by a dread- 
ful famine. It prevailed to such an extent, that 
the people were induced to subsist on the skins 
of animals, and finally on human flesh. In the 
space of six months the colony was reduced 
from five hundred persons to sixty. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 19 

9. It was some time during the year 1612 
that a Captain Argal, while on a voyage for trade 
to the Potomac, visited Pocahontas, who was 
then somewhere in the vicinity ; he prevailed on 
her to accompany him to his vessel. He sup- 
posed that by detaining her among the English at 
Jamestown, the hostile feelings of her father, who 
was then at war with the whites, would he sub- 
dued. Powhatan, however, refused to be brought 
to terms of peace in this way. Her stay at 
Jamestown, in the meantime, was not without its 
advantages to the English. The sympathy and 
noble interest which she had manifested for the 
whites, won the affections of Mr. Rolfe, a young 
man, who was a planter in the colony. Pow- 
hatan consented to their marriage ; and as the 
consequence of this union peace was restored 
between the contending parties. This couple 
afterward went over to England, where the young 
princess was treated with great respect and atten- 
tion by the king and nobility. She died when 
about to return to America, universally beloved 
for her kindness and friendship to the white 
people. 

10. The Dutch commenced a settlement and 
built a fort on Hudson's River, where Albany now 
stands, in 1614 ; and the next year they com- 
menced another settlement on what was then 
called Manhattan, now Ncw-York. John Smith, 
who has been mentioned before, (see 4, above,) 
having some time previously returned to Eng- 
land, was sent out this year with two ships to 
New-England, which was then known by the 



20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

name of North Virginia. After visiting this coast 
to some considerable extent, and trading with the 
natives, he returned to England. The descrip- 
tion which he gave of that part of the country 
which he visited was exceedingly interesting to 
Prince Charles, hence he determined that it 
should be called New-England. 

11. It is worthy of notice here, that efforts 
were made to found a college or university, within 
the bounds of the Virginia colon)-, as early as 
1619; and one thousand five hundred pounds 
sterling were collected for this noble purpose in 
England. And another event occurred about 
this time which marked this period as one never 
to be forgotten. Twenty innocent and defence- 
less Africans were brought into James River, and 
offered for sale as slaves by the Dutch. They 
were purchased ^^ithout any hesitancy by the 
colonists, and doomed to unending bondage. 
"This," says Hale, "was the commencement, in 
the English American colonies, of a traffic, ab- 
horrent to humanity, disgraceful to civilization, 
and fixing the foulest blot upon the character of 
the age and people." 



CHAPTER III. 

British Colonies — Settlement of New-England. 

1. It would seem that every American must 
feel a peculiar interest in tracing the early his- 
tory of his native country. In this kind of his- 
tory there is a peculiar charm, which the com- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 21 

bined excellencies of truth, and heroism, and 
virtue, and enterprise cannot fail to spread before 
the mind. 

In this chapter we shall find instances of cou. 
rage, and faith, and perseverance, which will be 
held in pleasing remembrance by the virtuous 
and good as long as the world shall endure. 

2. The first permanent settlement which was 
ever effected in that part of the United States 
called New-England, was formed in 1620, by a 
sect known by the name of PwitansJ* This 
name appears to have been given them in the 
same way that the name of " Methodist" was 
first given to the Messrs. Wesleys at Oxford col- 
lege, in England. They were persecuted in 
many instances with unrelenting severity ; and 
to avoid which, a company of them formed the 
design of escaping to America. After many 
protracted hardships, which they suffered in their 
attempts to find a resting place for themselves 
and posterity, they anchored in Cape Cod har- 
bour, November 10. 

3. The next day, after having engaged in 
solemn prayer and thanksgiving to God, the 
company formed a kind of contract with each 
other, for their future government. After this, 
some of the men armed themselves and went on 
shore for wood, and to make discoveries ; they 
all returned, in the evening, without having seen 
any of the natives or the places of their habita- 
tion. 

* Because they professed the attainment of greater 
purity than others. 



22 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

They did not find a place which they judged 
suitable for a permanent residence, till Monday, 
December 11. This place they afterward call- 
ed Plymouth, in memory of the Christian friends 
whom they left at a town of this name, when they 
took their departure from the mother country. 
The whole company went on shore, December 
23, and very soon engaged in building, and in 
preparations to defend themselves against the 
inclemency of the winter and the attacks of the 
savages. 

A most distressing mortality broke out among 
the colonists, and within three months after their 
arrival, scarcely fifty, out of the one hundred 
and one of their original number, remained alive. 
But in November, 1621, another ship arrived 
from England with thirty. five emigrants, who 
were now added to the colony. 

4. During this year a.fiee school was found- 
ed in Virginia. The college also at Henrico, 
mentioned chap, ii, 11, received new additions 
to its funds. That the cause of education should 
receive such attention at this early period, cer- 
tainly shows well in the history of those ancient 
times. Connected with this also may be men- 
tioned, the provision which the Virginia company 
made at this time for the support of the Gospel 
ministry. Each minister was allowed a quanti- 
ty of produce, estimated at two hundred pounds 
per year. 

5. March 22, 1622. A terrible massacre 
was perpetrated by the Indians on the Virginia 
colony. It is said to have been planned by the 



HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 23 

savages to revenge the death of one of their 
warriors who was slain by the whites. And it 
is acknowledged by ail who have examined the 
history of this country, that in too many in- 
stances the English were not at all careful about 
preserving the friendship and good will of the 
natives. Frequent hostilities and bloodshed were 
the consequence. 

Three hundred and forty-seven persons, of 
both sexes, and of all ages, fell victims to savage 
barbarity in this conflict, during one day; and it 
was followed with a fierce and exterminating 
war ; and to this was added the horrors and 
miseries of a most severe famine. 

A reinforcement of one thousand three hun- 
dred persons was made to the colony from Eng- 
land this year ; so that the losses by war and 
famine were more than counterbalanced. 

6. In the beginning of 1623, a most severe 
drought prevailed among the people in Plymouth, 
which induced the government to appoint a day 
of fasting and prayer ; and a day of public 
thanksgiving also was soon after set apart to 
acknowledge the goodness of God in the show- 
ers which he sent them. This was probably 
the commencement of the custom which prevails 
in New-England, and some others of the states, of 
appointing days of public fasting and thanksgiving. 

A settlement at Cape Ann was commenced in 
1624, and another at a place which the settlers 
called Weymouth ; both being within the bounds 
of what afterward became the state of Massa- 
chusetts. 



24 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

7. The foundation for the colony of Massa- 
chusetts was commenced this year, 1628. The 
first settlement was begun by a small company 
under the government of John Endicot, at a 
place called Naumkeak by the Indians, but the 
settlers gave it the name of Salem, and by this 
name it has ever since been known. In the 
course of the next year a company left this 
place, and began a settlement at Mishawum. 
To this place they gave the name of Charles- 
town. 

Measures were taken during the fall of this 
year, 1629, to plant a colony within the bounds 
of what is now called the state of New-Hamp- 
shire. Two small settlements, however, had 
been commenced within these bounds as early 
as 1623, one of them at a place called Little 
Hober, and the other at Dover. 

8. During the summer of 1630 a settlement 
was begun where the city of Boston now stands. 
The place was then called, by the Indians* 
Shawmut ; — and others also at Dorchester, 
Watertown, and Roxbury, in the same vicinity. 
Much suffering among the people of Massachu- 
setts and Plymouth colonies was occasioned 
during the winter of this year by the severity of 
the weather ; such intense cold had never been 
experienced by any of the inhabitants before ; 
there was a scarcity of provision also among 
them, and many of the people died. Notwith- 
standing the hardships and calamities with which 
those early settlers of this soil were assailed, yet 
they continued firm and unshaken in their pur- 



HISTOltY OF THE UNITED STATES. '25 

pose, without ever regretting the pains and ex- 
pense they had taken to secure for themselves 
and posterity the privileges and blessings of 
religious freedom. 

9. Various laws were passed by the Massa- 
chusetts legislature during the years 16,32-3. 
The court of assistants ordered that no member 
of the colony should make any use of tobaccopuft- 
licly, and that every person should pay the sum 
of one penny as a tax or fine for making use of 
this noxious weed in any place. However sin- 
gular this law may seem to us at this time, 
there can be no doubt but that it would add 
much to the health of the people were such a 
law to be made and enforced in every state 
throughout the union. 

A law was passed requiring constables to 
present to the magistrates for correction, all 
" unprofitable fowlers" and " tobacco fakers" 
The prices of labour were fixed also by the go- 
vernment for mechanics ; and it was ordered, 
that no articles for trade imported from England 
should be sold for more than four pence on a 
shilling, above the first cost. 

To account for these and other laws passed 
by those early settlers of this country, we must 
consider the object which they had in view in 
coming here, which was the establishment of a 
commonwealth, strictly religious in its cha. 
racter and operations. Hence, in 1681, it 
was decreed by a general court, that no one 
should be admitted a member of the corpo- 
ration, or be allowed the privilege of voting, 



26 IIlSTOllY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

who had not previously made a pubUc profession 
of rehgion. 

10. The first house was erected in Connecti- 
cut in 1633 ; the Enghsh having been in a 
friendly manner invited by some of the sachems 
or Indian chiefs in that region to do so. Some 
of the Plymouth colony first complied with this 
invitation, and in the space of one or two years 
they were followed by others, to the number of 
sixty, from Newton and Watertown, in Massa- 
chusetts. The place of their settlement was 
called Windsor. 

In 1684, Roger Williams, who was a minis- 
ter of Salem, for "heresy and sedition" was 
banished from the Massachusetts colony. He 
removed with his family to a place called by the 
Indians 31ooshawsic, where he commenced a 
settlement which he called Providence. He 
visited England in about ten years after this, and 
obtained a charter of incorporation for " Provi- 
dence and Rhode-Island Plantations." Universal 
toleration was given to all denominations equally 
in this state, which, together with the fertility of 
its soil, very much increased its population. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Settlements — Indian wars, Sec. 

1. The year 1637 is remarkable in the his- 
tory of the British colonies in North America, 
for the wars which were commenced between 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 27 

the Indians and the whites, and by which the 
colonies were in many places throughout New- 
England exceedingly distressed. 

There was a tribe of Indians living within the 
bounds of Connecticut, known by the name of 
the Pequods, or Pequots, who had frequently 
annoyed the settlers in their vicinity, by ravaging 
their property, and in several instances a number 
of the inhabitants had been killed. Between the 
Pequots and the Narragansetts, another tribe of 
Indians, living within the bounds of Rhode-Island, 
there had existed an implacable hatred ; but the 
Narragansetts were friendly to the whites. The 
Pequots now proposed an amicable adjustment 
of their difficuUies, and requested to have their 
assistance in prosecuting a contemplated war 
with the English. To this proposal, however, 
the Narragansetts refused to listen : they imme- 
diately communicated this intelligence to the 
colony in Connecticut, and invited the English 
to engage with them in a war with the Pequots. 

2. In the meantime the Pequots continued 
their hostilities. In March of this year they 
made an assault on the commander of Saybrook 
fort and twelve of his men, three of whom were 
killed. In April they killed six men and three 
women near Weathersfield, as they were pro- 
ceeding one day to their labour. They also 
killed twenty cows, and carried away two girls 
captives. 

At this crisis the colonies were exceedingly 
alarmed. A court was immediately summoned, 
which met at Hartford, May 1 , of this year. At 



28 HISTOBY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

this court it was determined that an offensive 
war should be carried on against the Pequots. 
As this was viewed as a common cause among 
the different colonies, Massachusetts and Ply- 
mouth agreed to unite with Connecticut, and 
attempt the utter destruction of the Pequots. 

May 24. An arm3\ consisting of seventy- seven 
Englishmen, and about three hundred friendly 
Indians, commenced their march into the coun 
try of the enemy, under the command of Cap 
tain Mason. The next day this army was in 
creased to the number of five hundred Indians 
On the morning of the 26th of this month, Csip 
tain Mason had arrived at Mystic, one of the 
enemy's principal forts, within the limits of the 
present town of Stonington, Conn. The village 
was surrounded with trees and brush, designedly 
placed so by the Indians, as, if possible, to pre- 
vent the approach of an enemy. As they came 
near the village, the alarm was given by the 
barking of a dog ; and a severe struggle ensued. 
The Indians resisted the attack with savage des- 
peration, till, by the order of Captain Mason, 
their wigwams and the whole village was set in 
flames. In less than one hour and a half seventy 
of their dwellings were in ruins, and six hundred 
of the Indians slain. 

Captain Mason had two men killed, and six- 
teen wounded. 

8. In June following, another victory was 
gained over the Pequots, in a great swamp near 
Fairfield, Conn., by Captain Stoughton. Thirty 
men were killed, and fifty women and children 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 29 

taken captives. Others were pursued to a swamp 
near New-Haven, where two hundred of the Pe- 
quots were either slain or taken prisoners. — 
Thus this bloody struggle was concluded, and a 
valiant tribe of the sons of the forest completely 
extirpated. 

4. In the spring of 1638 a colony was com- 
menced at Quinnapiac, which afterward took the 
name of New-Haven, and this, and a number of 
other places settled in the same vicinity, went by 
the name of the New-Haven colony, for some 
time after. In this, as in other cases of the 
English settlements, the land was regularly pur- 
chased of the natives, and for which a satisfac- 
tory price was given. . 

This year the foundation was laid for Harvard 
college. The place where it was located being 
called Newtown, this name was changed to that 
of Cambridge, in memory of the seat of learning 
at a place of this name in England. 

The province of Maryland, first settled in 1634, 
was divided into baronies and manors this year ; 
and a number of laws and regulations were 
adopted by the assembly, the first of which any 
record appears in the province. Hartford, Wind- 
sor, and Weathersfield, three towns on the Con- 
necticut River, adopted a constitution, and formed 
the commonwealth of Connecticut this year, 
1639. A similar constitution was soon after 
adopted by the New-Haven colony. This year 
also a charter was obtained from the king of all 
the land from Pascataqua and Sagadahock, which 
was called the province of Maine. 



30 HISTORY OF THE UIS'ITED STATES. 

5. From the above date to 1642, many new 
towns had been formed and settled within the 
hmits of New-England ; the state of society was 
much improved, and the toil and sufferings of 
the emigrants seemed now to be abundantly re- 
warded. The people were generally supplied with 
the word of life, as within New-England alone 
there were at this time seventy-seven ministers 
settled over ditlerent Churches. 

6. For several years a confederacy had been 
contemplated by the colonies of Plymouth, Mas- 
sachusetts, Connecticut, and New-Haven ; this 
union was finally effected in May, 1643. There 
were special reasons for this confederacy ; a 
general combination of the Indians against the 
English was feared ; and the encroachments of 
the Dutch, Swiss, and French, who were set- 
tling in the vicinity. And then the colonies were 
strongly inclined to such a measure from a con- 
sideration of the religion which they professed, 
as well as a desire for the general peace and 
safety of the whole. Hence they took the name 
of "the United Colonies of New-England." 

According to this confederacy, the colonies 
were mutually bound to assist each other in case 
of any invasion or war, though each was to re- 
tain its distinct and separate government. This 
union was of great utility to the colonies, and it 
was continued till their charters were taken 
away, about forty years after its formation, by 
James II. 

7. This year, 1644, is memorable for a law 
that 'was passed by the legislature of Massachu- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 31 

setts, in relation to the Baptists. The preamble 
of this law states, that " divers" of the Baptists, 
" have, since our coming into New-England, ap- 
peared among ourselves, some whereof have (as 
others before them) denied the ordinance of 
magistracy, and the lawfulness of making w^ar, 
and others the lawfulness of magistrates, which 
opinions, if they should be connived at by us, are 
like to be increased among us, and so must ne- 
cessarily bring guilt upon us, infection and trou- 
ble to the Churches, and hazard to the common- 
wealth."* 

The next year the general court of Massachu- 
setts ordered that a negro who had been " fraudu- 
lently and injuriously taken and brought from 
Guinea," and sold to a Mr. Williams of Pasca- 
taqua, should be taken and " sent back to his 
native country without delay." 

8. In 1654 preparations were commenced for 
a college in New-Haven. It is worthy of con- 
stant remark, how closely the early settlers of 
this and the other New-England colonies devoted 
their first attention to the interests of learning 
and religion ; nor should their posterity forget 
how deeply they are indebted to them on this 
account. 

In July, 1656, the Quakers appeared in Mas- 
sachusetts for the first time. The general court, 
considering them opposed, like the Baptists, to the 
civil and religious order of the commonwealth, 
banished the whole of them, twelve in number, 
out of the colony. No one will pretend to jus- 
* Hazard Hist. Col. 



32 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tify these severities, at this period of the world, 
certainly ; and yet, it must be confessed, that the 
history of those times shows but too plainly that 
many of those sects, against whom laws were 
enacted, were highl)- censurable in their con- 
duct. Their inveighing against the laws and 
regulations of the colonies was most evidently 
calculated to call down upon them many of the 
calamities which they suflered. 

9. The next event of importance in our his- 
tory is the granting of a new charter by King 
Charles II. to Connecticut. This was done in 
1662. By this instrument this colony was now 
constituted a body corporate and politic, by the 
name of " The Governor and Company of the 
English Colony of Connecticut, in New-England, 
in America." Cotton Mather says, it was " as 
amply privileged a charter as was ever enjoyed 
perhaps by anv people under the cope of hea- 
ven." 

A similar one was granted the next year to 
Rhode-Island and Providence plantations. 

About this time provision was made by the 
assembly of Virginia for the establishment and 
maintenance of a college. The preamble to this 
law says, — " The want of able and faithful minis- 
ters in this country deprives us of those great 
blessings and mercies that always attend upon 
the service of God." Hence this act provides, 
that for the promotion of piety and learning, the 
education of j'outh, and the supply of the Gos- 
pel ministry, there should be land taken up for a 
college and free school ; and that with all con- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 33 

venieiit speed suitable buildings should be erect- 
ed upon it for the entertainment of students and 
scholars. 

An act of the British parliament, passed 
against dissenting ministers, took efiect in Au- 
gust of this year ; and two thousand of these 
men were separated from their churches and 
people, w ithout any means of support for them- 
selves or families ; and very soon after they 
were forbidden the privilege of coming within 
five miles of any corporation in England. Some 
of them, however, did exercise their ministry 
contrary to this law ; and as the con.sequence, 
they were shut up in prison, where several of 
them died ; many others tvn-ned their attention 
to New-England, and here they found tiie privi- 
lege of which they were deprived in their mother 
country. 

10. In 1663 a project was formed by Ed- 
ward, earl of Clarendon, for settling the extensive 
territory lying to the southvvard of Virginia, and 
Charles II. granted him a charter for this pur- 
pose. This charter conveyed to the earl and 
his company all the land lying between the 
thirty-first and thirty-sixth degrees of north lati- 
tude, reserving to the king the sovereign dominion 
only. It gave them the pow er of enacting laws 
for dieir own regulation ; also the right of ap. 
j)oiating their own magistrates, and constituting 
their own courts of judicature ; and to do every 
thing, in a word, necessary for the peace, de- 
fence, and prosperity of the colony. 

And the charter directed farther, that fedch 
3 



34 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

freedom should be allowed in matters of religion, 
as the colonial government might, in its wisdom, 
think proper. All were to enjoy the privilege 
of thinking and acting in relation to this subject, 
as their consciences dictated ; provided the civil 
order of community were not thereby disturbed ; 
as " it might happen that several of the inha- 
bitants could not, in their private opinions, con- 
form to tlie exercise of religion according to the 
liturgy and ceremonies of the Church of Eng- 
land." This colony was called Carolina. 

11. In January of this year a most tremen- 
dous earthquake was experienced throughout 
the northern parts of America. It was felt in 
New-England, New-York, and Canada ; but 
most sensibly in the latter place. It was first 
observed there a little past five in the evening. 
All was calm and serene, when a sudden and 
violent roar was heard, like that of a great fire ; 
the houses tottered and shook in every direction. 
This continued for about thirty minutes, and it 
was followed by a number of violent shocks 
during the same evening and the next day. 

One writer thus describes the effects of the 
first shock : — " The doors opened and shut of 
themselves, with a fearful clattering. The bells 
rang without being touched. The walls split 
asunder. The floors separated, and fell down. 
The fields put on the appearance of precipices ; 
and the mountains seemed to be moving out of 
their places. Many fountains and small rivers 
were dried up ; in others the water became sul- 
phureous ; and in some, the channel in which 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 35 

they ran before was so altered, that it could not 
be distinguished. Many trees were torn up, and 
tlu'ovvn to a considerable distance ; and some 
mountains appeared to be much broken and 
moved." 



CHAPTER V. 

Settlements — War with the Indians, 

1. We have betbre seen that the Dutch com- 
menced the settlement of New-York in 1615, 
(see chap, ii, 10.) The English were frequently 
annoyed by these settlers, as they were of a dif- 
ferent nation, and having interests different from 
most of the other colonies. It therefore became 
an object with King James II. to dispossess 
them. Accordingly, a fleet was fitted out in 
1664, for this purpose, among others, under the 
command of Colonel Richard Nicolls ; who 
proceeded directly to Manhattan. He demanded 
a surrender of Stuyvesant, the governor, who 
made a feeble attempt at resistance, but soon 
capitulated on certain conditions. The Dutch 
were to possess their property unmolested, and 
to be allowed the privileges of free citizens, 
and the freedom of trade to Holland. They 
were not to be disturbed in their modes of wor- 
ship, and the rites of their Church polity. New 
Amsterdam, as this place had been called by the 
Dutch, now took the name of New-York, in 
honour of the duke of York and Albany, to 



36 HISTORY OF THE LIN'ITED STATES. 

whom a grant had been made by James II. of 
several tracts of land, including New- Jersey, 
Delaware, and the colony which now took his 
name. 

2. Soon after the above-named grant, the 
duke of York made over to Lord Berkley and 
Sir George Carteret the territory of New- Jersey. 
This name was given to this territory in compli- 
ment to Carteret, who had formerly been go- 
vernor of the Isle of Jersey, in the English 
channel. Various settlements had been made 
in New-Jersey some time before this, by the 
Dutch and Danes. 

Delaware, which was in the possession of the 
Dutch and Swedes, was also capitulated to the 
English this year, and became subject to the 
British crown. 

The Connecticut and New-Haven colonies, 
which had till now (1665) been separate and 
independent communities, became united, under 
the charter granted by Charles II. three years 
before. New-York became an incorporated city 
in June of this year. 

It will be remembered that Rhode-Island was 
settled by tlie Baptists, for the purpose of allow- 
ing unrestrained liberties of conscience in mat- 
ters of religion ; yet a law was passed by this 
state this year, by which Quakers were rendered 
outlaws, and by which their estates might be 
confiscated ; however, it never was carried 
into effect. 

3. The Dutch took possession of New-York 
the second time, in 1673. War having com- 



niSTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 37 

menced between England and Holland, the 
latter sent a small squadron to destroy the 
commerce of the English colonies in America. 
This fleet, after effecting its object on the coast 
of Virginia, proceeded to New- York, and the 
city not being in a state for defence, it surren- 
dered without resistance. But the next year a 
treaty of peace being ratified between Holland 
and Great Britain, New-York was conditionally 
restored to the English, and a new charter 
granted to the duke of York. Soon after the 
restoration of New-York to the English, many 
of the Dutch in the city and vicinity emigrated 
to Carolina. They settled on the southwest 
side of Ashley River, and they formed the first 
Dutch colony within the limits of Carolina. 

4. As v/e have advanced in the course of this 
history thus far, we have seen the growing pros- 
perity of the English colonies. In about fifty 
years the face of nearly this whole country had 
become materially changed ; deserts had been 
made a fruitful field, and the wilderness caused 
to bud and blossom as the rose. The population 
in New-England alone amounted to as many as 
one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants, 
and within its limits more than a hundred towns 
had been organized and settled. The habits of 
honest industry and economy still prevailed 
among the people, such habits as are always 
crowned more or less with comparative affluence 
and comfort. 

But as the whites increased in their numbers 
and possessions, the hunting grounds and haunts 



38 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of the poor natives were narrowed and decreased, 
and those original proprietors of the American 
soil found their tribes and their privileges gradu- 
ally wasting away before the rising power of 
their white neighbours. Hence, for tome years, 
the Indians in many places had been watching 
the movements of the English with increasing 
jealousy. They saw and felt sufficient cause 
for alarm ; and a plot was formed against the 
colonies in New-England, which, had it proved 
successful, would have entirely extinguished their 
existence. 

5. An exterminating war was determined 
against the whites. In this war Philip, king of 
the Wampanoags, took the lead ; hence it has 
since been known in history by the name of 
King Philip's war. He first procured the death 
of an Indian missionary who was a particular 
friend of the whites, for making known to them 
the plot of the Indians. For this murder three 
Indians were tried, convicted, and executed at 
Plymouth. One of these was the intimate friend 
and counsellor of Philip : he was instantly aroused 
to vengeance : he immediately called his men 
and equipped them for the bloody strife. At this 
time between three and four thousand warriors 
waited for his command. The first hostilities 
were commenced, June 24, 1675, in Svvanzey as 
the people were returning from public worship, 
it being a day of fasting and prayer, which 
had been appointed by the pious inhabitants un- 
der fearful apprehension of approaching calami- 
ties. Eight or nine persons were killed. The 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 39 

alarm of war was now givea throughout the 
colonies. 

6. Two companies with one hundred and ten 
volunteers immediately set out from Boston, and 
on the 28th joined the Plymouth forces at Swan- 
zey ; in the evening a skirmish ensued between 
the hostile parties, and one of the whites was 
killed ; on the next day five or six of the Indians 
were killed. 

Philip with his forces now fled into Pocasset, 
and entered a swamp. On the 18th of July the 
English pursued and attempted to charge them ; 
but in this attempt they lost five of their men, 
and the Indians making their way deeper into 
the swamp, the Enghsh commander ordered a 
retreat. At this the savages seemed to take 
courage, and the torch of war was kindled 
throughout the country. 

7. This was a most awful crisis. Imagine for 
one moment the situation of the whites. Their 
dwellings were few and far apart, and generally 
surrounded by thick and deep forests. The In- 
dians lived in these forests and possessed every 
facility for acquainting themselves with the places 
where the whites might be found, whether at 
their devotions on the Sabbath, or within their 
own habitations with their families, or at work 
in their fields. Thus the savages had every 
imaginable opportunity for attacking them in 
their defenceless moments, and butchering the 
people often withcmt a moment's warning; many 
were inhumanly scalped by their own firesides, 
or shot dead as they v.ero proceeding to their 



40 HISTORY OF THE U^'ITED STATES. 

work ; others as they went to or from the house 
of God, or on errands, to visit their friends and 
relatives, fell victims to the stroke of the tomma- 
havvk, or v/ere shot by some invisible foe who 
lay concealed in the thicket around them. No 
one could feel safe ; danger and death were the 
constant attendants of all ; fear and anxiety pre- 
vailed in eveiy direction. 

8. During the summer of this year engage, 
ments were very frequent between the whites 
and Indians : numbers were lost on both sides ; 
generally, however, the whites prevailed, but not 
without considerable damage, and which they 
were at this time but poorly able to bear, as the 
savages often burned their houses and destroyed 
their cattle and fields of grain. 

A melancholy detail is given of the destruction 
of a Captain Lothrop and ninety men with him, 
at a place called from this circumstance Bloody 
Brook, but since known by the name of Muddy 
Broolc, in Connecticut. He had been to Deer- 
field with a number of teams for grain, by order 
of the commanding officer at Had ley, the place 
of head quarters. He was returning, and hav- 
ing arrived near the south point of Sugarloaf- 
Hill, he was met and attacked by a party of 
seven hundred Indians. Lothrop's company 
was made up of young men, of whom one his- 
torian says, " they were the flower of the coun- 
try." At first they were thrown into confusion, 
but they soon rallied, and fought with inconceiv. 
able bravery, till their resistance proved useless. 
Only seven or eight of a hundred escaped. 



^^1 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 41 

9. A decisive battle was fought on the 19th 
of December, 1675, in a swamp which lay three 
or four miles to the west of South Kingston, R. I. 
About one thousand eight hundred troops, and 
one hundred and sixty Indians under the com- 
mand of Governor Winslow, of Plymouth, com- 
menced their march from Petaquamscut on the 
day previous. They marched through a deep 
snow, and though the weather was quite cold, 
they passed the night in the open field. They 
arrived in sight of the Indian fort at one o'clock 
in the afternoon. This stood on a small tract of 
elevated ground in the middle of the swamp, sur- 
rounded and defended with a hedge about six- 
teen feet thick. The English rushed immedi- 
ately to the onset. The struggle was degperate 
on both sides, and bloody. For some time the 
crisis seemed doubtful till fire was put to the In- 
dian fort. Five or six hundred wigwams were 
now set in a blaze, and many Indian women and 
children perished in the conflagration. This 
was a dreadful scene ! the shrieks of the chil- 
dren, with the exclamations of dying mothers, 
wrapt together in the devouring flames ; the 
deep, dark volumes of smoke rolling up toward 
the heavens, and the roar of musketry, kept up 
for about three hours, conspired to render the 

ene inconceivably awful. 

10. The Indians in the fort were estimated at 
four thousand, one thousand of whom perished 
in that fight, three hundred were taken prisoners, 
and the rest fled. The English lost eighty-five, 
who were either killed or died of their v/ounds. 



42 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

This defeat was total, and from it the savages 
never recovered. But the war was continued, 
and a number of severe battles were fought after 
this, and much damage done to many of the 
white settlements, till August, 1676, when the 
finishing stroke was given to the contest by the 
death of King Phihp. He was shot through the 
heart on an island called Mount Hope, not far 
from Bristol, R. I. 

In the course of this war six hundred of the 
inhabitants of New-England were slain by the 
savages, about six hundred buildings, principally 
dwelling houses, were consumed, and twelve or 
thirteen towns entirely destroyed. These were 
distressing calamities, and it is reasonable to 
suppose that they must have checked for a 
while the growth and prosperity of the colonies. 
With so much toil and suffering were many of 
the blessings purchased which now so richly 
crown the people of these United States. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Oppression of the colonies — Insurrection in Virginia, 

1. The war with the Indians had scarcely 
terminated, when the New-England colonies 
found themselves involved in a new scene of 
calamities. Certain laws had some time before 
been passed in England, for the purpose of regu- 
lating the commerce of the colonies with each other 
and with other nations. By these laws, taxes were 



HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 43 

imposed upon specified commodities, when car- 
ried from one colony to another, or when imported 
from any other country heside England. Com- 
plaints were now made in England against the 
New-England colonies for disregarding these 
acts of navigation, upon which the king imme- 
diately required that persons should be sent to 
England to answer in their behalf for the trans- 
gression of these laws. Persons were also com- 
missioned from England to visit the colonies, 
and empowered to take measures for enforcing 
the strictest obedience to the navigation laws ; 
and to add to their intolerance, it was also or- 
dered " that no Mediterranean passes should be 
granted to New-England, to protect its vessels 
against the Turks, till it is seen what dependence 
it will acknowledge on his majesty, or whether 
his custom-house officers are received as in 
other colonies. 

2. These acts were considered by all the 
colonies as exceedingly cruel and oppressive, in- 
asmuch as they were passed by a parliament in 
which they were not represented, and in direct 
violation of their chartered rights. They bore 
with great weight on the trade of Virginia and 
Delaware, and the discontent of the people was 
soon manifested in acts of open rebellion. Vir- 
ginia was now at war with the Susquehannah 
Indians. Nathaniel Bacon, a bold and eloquent 
young Englishman, who was at this time in the 
colony, seized on this opportunity to ask a com- 
mission to proceed r gainst the savages. Berk, 
ley, the governor, however, refused to grant 



44 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

him his request, and treated him with indignity. 
Bacon soon after proceeded to Jamestown and 
besieged the grand assembly with six hundred 
armed followers, and demanded a commission. 
It was granted ; but he had scarcely left the 
town when the governor, by the advice of the 
assembly, denounced him publicly as a rebel. 

3. Bacon, on hearing what the governor had 
done, returned immediately to Jamestown, and 
the governor, finding himself unable to resist 
him, fled to Accomack. He finally gathered a 
few of his friends and proceeded against the in- 
surgents, but without much success. James- 
town was burned by the insurgents in the con- 
flict, and a number of lives were lost. But in 
the midst of the excitement Bacon was taken 
sick and died ; tlie commotion very soon after 
died away, and the insurgents returned to their 
homes in peace. 

From 1676 to 1679 various measures were 
adopted by the colonies for the purpose of concili- 
ating the favour of the British parliament ; agents 
were appointed to visit England, addresses were 
made to the king, and laws were passed to punish 
high treason, and to require all persons to swear 
allegiance to the king, but all to no purpose ; the 
acts of trade were not regarded, and the difli- 
culty between the mother country and the colo- 
nies still continued. 

4. In 1680 New-Hampshire was separated 
from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and 
became a distinct colony. During this year 
the foundation was laid for the present city of 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 45 

Charleston, in South Carolina. The settlers first 
located themselves on the banks of the river 
Ashley, but they afterward removed and com- 
menced the city at a place called " Oyster point," 
which is formed by the confluence of the rivers 
Ashley and Cooper ; thirty houses were erected 
the first year. 

Pennsylvania was founded in 1681. A 
charter was granted by Charles II., king of 
England, of a tract of territory between the bay 
and river of Delaware, and Lord Baltimore's 
province of Maryland, to William Penn ; and 
after him this tract has since been called Penn- 
sylvania.* The first settlements were com- 
menced by the Quakers. The next year Penn 
laid out the plan of a city, to which he gave the 
name of Philadelphia. 

5. A letter having been sent this year, 1682, 
from the king to the people of Massachusetts, 
complaining of their continued disregard of the 
navigation laws, the general court resolved to 
despatch an agency to England for the purpose 
of adjusting the difficulty ; but this measure did 
not succeed. 

It was during this year that M. de la Sale 
descended the Mississippi River to the sea, and 
in honour of Louis XIV., king of France, he gave 
the name of Louisiana to the vast tract of coun- 
try watered by that majestic river. 

In June 1684 the high court of chancery 
in England gave judgment on the controversy 
which had now been pending for some years 
* Literally, Feuri's WooJs. 



46 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

between the king and the governor and company 
of Massachusetts. The court decreed that their 
charter, the safeguard of their hberties, should 
be cancelled, and that the government of this 
colony should be placed in the hands of the 
king, the bitterest, firmest enemy of the people. 
The other colonies had been fearing the like 
fate, in their own case, which had now befallen 
Massachusetts ; and, to prevent this, prayers, peti- 
tions, and remonstrances were laid at the feet of 
King Charles and his successor, James II., but 
all to no effect. 

6. The prospect before the New-England 
colonies at this time was distressing in the ex- 
treme : after having endured the toils and dan- 
gers incident to the settlement of a new country ; 
after having patiently suffered privations and 
hardships, the bare thought of which would 
seem enough to make humanity shudder, their 
liberties, the fruit of their labours, were now 
about to be wrested from them and placed at the 
disposal of a merciless tyrant. Proceedings, simi- 
lar to those which had deprived Massachusetts of 
her charter, were taken against the other colonies. 
Rhode-Island gave up hers ; Plymouth colony 
sent hers to the king, with a respectful request 
that it should be restored again ; but this was 
not granted. 

In December, 1686, Sir Edmond Andros ar- 
rived in Boston, who had been arbitrarily appoint- 
ed, by the king, governor of all New-England, 
except Plymouth. This appointnieat was still 
more afflicting to the people : this man was 



HISTORY OF THE UxMTED STATES. 47 

known as having been most tyrannical in his 
proceedings when he was governor in New- 
York a few years before. His conduct now 
confirmed all that the people had feared concern- 
ing him. He immediately proceeded to re- 
strain the liberty of the press, he introduced 
new regulations with rerijard to the settlements 
of estates, marriage, and public worship. Ex- 
horbitant fees were extorted by himself and all 
who were employed under him ; and without 
even the sliow of justice he compelled the people 
to take out new titles to their land, and for which 
large sums were exacted. 

7. In October, 1687, this man proceeded 
with his suit and about si\ty regular troops, to 
Hartford, and demanded the charter of Connec- 
ticut of the assembly, which was then in session 
in that place. But this was too precious a trea- 
sure to be thus surrendered without reluctance. 
It was secreted by a stratagem, beyond the reach 
of Andros ; but he closed the records of the 
assembly, and assumed the reins of government 
without it. 

The next year this wicked man continued to 
oppress the people in Massachusetts. He caused 
a most unjust tax to be raised on the polls and 
estates, and also upon all goods imported into the 
country, and fined and imprisoned some of the 
selectmen for delaying to assess it. 

It was now determined to add New-York and 
the Jerseys to the jurisdiction of New-England ; 
and so Andros was appointed vice general and 
admiral over the whole. 



48 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

These measures but increased the sufferings 
of the people, and excited their contempt and 
hatred tor the man who had been the cause of 
tlieir calamities. However, we may believe 
that the great Avenger of wrongs interposed, at 
this time, for the afflicted colonies, and averted 
the evils with which their existence was threat- 
ened. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Reflections — State of this country' when first disco- 
vered — Character and habits of the natives — Their 
decline and extinction — Progress of civiUzation — 
Character and manners of the colonists. 

1. It may be proper for us to pause now, for 
a few moments, and reflect on some of the 
events noticed in the foregoing pages. The 
facts we have narrated are among the most 
interesting features which serve to make up 
the volume of universal history. We cannot 
therefore consider them too attentively, seeing 
they are the seeds from which our national ex- 
istence has sprung, and the means which have 
contributed more or less in the formation of the 
habits and manners of one of the greatest and 
most powerful of nations. 

2. We have now passed over a period of 
nearly two hundred years. At its commence- 
ment this vast continent was one unbroken wil- 
derness. We now see it diversified with plains, 
hills, fruitful tieldy, and villages, and cities, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 49 

scattered in every direction ; and scarcely a 
foot of land can be found but which bears the 
marks of human industry. But a little less than 
two centuries before this period, almost one 
impenetrable forest was spread over this exten- 
sive continent. Within its dark and solemn 
recesses the catamount and panther ranged un- 
disturbed for their food. The wolf, the bear, 
and the wild cat; the elk, moose, and the buffalo, 
were covered in its shade. Birds of almost 
every description, and in innumerable flocks, 
enlivened the woods and the air with their 
notes. The spontaneous productions of the soil 
served both the savage and the beast for food. 

3. At this time it is supposed the natives of 
this country amounted to as many as one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand. They were divided 
into different clans or tribes, and each tribe was 
known by its appropriate name, and generally 
by the place of its residence. One above the 
rest in every tribe was acknoAvledged as the 
sachem, or chief. Sometimes, in important 
business, he consulted others in the affairs of 
the government; but generally his will was 
supreme law, and his decisions final. At other 
times a number of chiefs deliberated together 
in council, when they determined on war or 
peace. One spoke at a time, and each at his 
pleasure ; to which the others listened with the 
profoundest silence ; and for giving their atten- 
tion to what is said when addressed by a public 
speaker, the natives of our western wilds are 
remarkable even to this day. 
4 



50 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

4. The persons of the savages were generally 
well proportioned ; they were tall and straight, 
with long black hair, and of a red or copper 
colour. A small covering about the middle of 
the body was all the clothing they wore in the 
summer, but in winter they wrapt themselves in 
the furs and skins of wild beasts. Their habi- 
tations consisted of a few poles set into the 
ground around a circle of twelve or fifteen feet, 
and brought together in a point at the top ; 
these were then covered with turf, or the bark 
of trees, so as to shed the snow and rain. These 
dwellings were called wee-ke-warns, or wigwams. 

5. The savages were not skilled in any of the 
sciences or arts which now distinguish civilized 
hfe. The use of the saw, the plane, the plough, 
and the like, were altogether unknown to them. 
Their labours were confined simply to the con- 
struction of their wigwams, their bows, their 
stone arrows, and hatchets, and mortars for 
pounding parched corn. Specimens of their 
arrows and hatchets may still be found in almost 
every part of America, and in many places they 
are laid up as works of interesting curiosity. 

Their food consisted chiefly of corn, berries 
of various kinds, peas, beans, potatoes, &c, and 
the flesh of various beasts, and different kinds 
of fish, with which the rivers and lakes gene- 
rally abounded. 

They had no knowledge of books or letters ; 
their time was spent principally in war, in hunt- 
ing, and in amusements, such as dancing, leap, 
ing, and shooting at a mark. 



niSTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 51 

6. As to their peculiar character, dispositions, 
and views, some of them often exhibited the 
brightest evidence of genius, and traits of charac- 
ter which combine in constituting the noblest 
feelings of our nature. Witness the case of 
Pocahontas, chap, ii, 5. And the persevering, 
undaunted courage, and patriotism of King 
Philip, when considered with the age in which 
he lived, the circumstances with which he was 
surrounded, and the motives also by which he 
was actuated, form a subject of melting interest 
to every person who has a heart to feel. 

It is true the death of this valiant warrior, at 
the time it happened, excited universal rejoicing, 
because it was then viewed in connection with 
all the horrors of a merciless and exterminating 
war ; he was considered as a savage, implacable 
enemy, and the blow by which he fell was hailed 
as the token of approaching peace, and the close 
of a protracted and most distressing conflict. 
Time, however, has changed the scene, and we 
can now contemplate the character of King 
Philip without seeing the curling flame and 
ascending smoke of the faggot, or hearing the 
appalling sound of the warwhoop. And if we 
are to judge of him as we now judge of others 
who have been called great men, then Philip of 
Pokanoket was a hero and a patriot, a valiant 
warrior, and a mighty sovereign. His pene- 
trating mind foresaw the increasing power of the 
whites, the loss of his dominion, and the utter 
extinction of his nation. He put forth one 
mighty effort to save them, but that effort failed. 



52 HISTORY OF THE UAITED STATES. 

Had King Philip enjoyed the privileges of educa- 
tion and the blessings of civilized life, his name 
might have been handed down to posterity as 
one of the great men who have attracted the 
attention of a wondering and admiring world. 

7. One cannot reflect without melancholy on 
the fate which has attended the original inheritors 
of this soil. Where are those once powerful and 
warlike tribes who ranged over these hills, 
gathered on the plains, or skimmed over the 
lakes and rivers at their pleasure, and undisturb- 
ed? This widely-extended territory was all 
their own ; here they kindled their council fires 
without molestation ; no field nor dwelling of the 
white man interrupted their chase of the stag or 
the deer. Hundreds and thousands in a tribe, and 
by thousands of these tribes, these Atlantic shores 
were once covered ; the hill, the dale, or the deep 
and gloomy forest, was alike a home for them. 
But they have nearly all passed away and gone 
down to the shades of death. At the presence 
of the white man their strength has departed, 
their numbers have wasted away, their forests 
have disappeared ; even their very name is well 
nigh perished and forgotten. 

8. Another race of men now occupy their 
hunting grounds, and by other hands their fields 
are tilled ; where they paddled their bark canoes 
large ships of commerce are now seen floating, 
villages and populous cities have now taken the 
place of their rude wigwams and council fires. 

Up to the close of the period before mention- 
ed, circumstances had been working gradually 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 53 

ill giving some peculiar features to the character 
and manners of the colonists. From a small 
beginning they had now increased to about two 
hundred thousand, and this in the space of about 
eighty-two years. For the spirit of self sacri- 
ficing, of bold and hardy enterprise, the early 
settlers of this country were certainly never ex- 
ceeded by any others. They willingly forsook 
the blessings and refinements of civilized life in 
Europe, unaccustomed to the difficulties and pri- 
vations which their settlement in a wilderness 
would cost them. They cleared the forests, 
braved dangers, endured suffering, encountered 
the horrors of savage w^arfare, established them- 
selves in a new country, defended their liberties 
when assailed by a foreign tyrant, and they laid 
wisely-concerted plans for the good of their pos- 
terity ; and by these means the wilderness which 
their toil subdued has become as the garden of 
the Lord ; and a wise and powerful nation has 
sprung into being, to diffuse the blessing of civil 
and religious liberty all over the world. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The charters restored or renewed to tlie colonies — 
Witchcraft — King William's war. 

1. In 1689 things began to take a new turn 
in the colonies. King James left the throne of 
England in December the previous year, and 
William, prince of Orange, was proclaimed king 



54 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

on the 16th of February following. The news, 
however, had scarcely reached the colonies, 
when the people of Boston seized Andros, and 
about fifty of his associates, and confined them 
in prison. The former ofiicers of the colony, 
whom Andros had deposed, were immediately 
reinstated, and on the 29th of May, William was 
proclaimed king with great rejoicings. 

2. Massachusetts, Rhode-Island, and Connec- 
ticut now resumed their charters, of which they 
had been deprived under the former government 
of King James. Their example was soon after 
followed by Virginia and Maryland. When the 
intelligence of Wilham and Mary's ascension 
was received in New-York, the lieutenant go- 
vernor and council were about to proclaim them, 
but while they waited for some consultation with 
regard to the pubhc safety, one Jacob Leisler, 
and about fifty men, seized the fort. This oc- 
casioned a division among the people which 
was far from being pleasant. Peace was not 
restored to the colony till 1691, when Colonel 
Sloughter, as the king's governor, called an as- 
sembly who formed a constitution which secured 
the rights of the people. 

3. In 1692 a most extraordinary delusion 
broke out in the Massachusetts colony. It is 
scarcely possible to read any plain account of it 
at this day without horror, or even for one to 
believe one half which he reads. An infatuation 
so strange, spreading such disorder through the 
community, and so manifestly the offspring of 
sheer ignorance and superstition, may well form 



HISTORY OF Till: UNITED STATES. o5 

an item in the history of the place where it oc- 
curred, that after ages may learn the better how 
to prize the light by which the mists of such 
pernicious and silly errors have been so com- 
pletely dissipated. 

The infatuation which we are now about to 
notice, was denominated witchcraft. However, 
it is believed, there is nothing at this time in this 
country, of which we can obtain any definite 
knowledge by either of the five senses, which 
will answer what was meant by this word at the 
time above mentioned. That there is an evil 
agency in this world called in the Bible the 
devil, and Satan, is admitted by all true believers 
in that good book ; but that persons were at this 
time possessed by evil spirits in the way which 
was then supposed, is not supported by any evi- 
dence which is entitled to credit. 

4. Toward the last of February of this year, 
some children in Danvers, then a part of Salem, 
began to be strangely affected. They exhibited 
singular contortions of their features and limbs : 
whether they did this at first in sport, or merely 
to do mischief, does not appear. But their idle 
stories about themselves were believed, and by 
many who should have known better. Very 
soon the infection spread into other places, and 
many seemed really to covet the mania by hear- 
ing and telling the reports that were put in cir- 
culation about it. 

Suspicions and accusations now became fre- 
quent ; courts were formed and trials instituted 
for the purpose of punishing those who were 



56 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

thought to be guilty, till finally two hundred per- 
sons were accused, one hundred and fifty were 
apprehended and shut up in prision, and nine- 
teen others had suffered death upon the gallows. 

5. The people were alarmed. Reason began 
to work ; the people seemed to awake as from 
the slumbers of night ; they looked into the sub- 
ject, considered more minutely the nature of the 
supposed crime, the inexplicit and often obscure 
and silly testimony by which it was thought to 
be proved, together with the character of many 
who were accused, and they finally began to 
suspect themselves as having been too credulous 
on a subject involving such solemn consequences. 
The delusion gradually died away ; those con- 
demned were pardoned by the governor, and 
others who were imprisoned were set at liberty. 
Some of the persons who had served as jurors, 
by whom a number of unfortunate victims had 
been condemned to suffer death, afterward pub- 
licly confessed their error and asked forgiveness. 
And one of the Churches in Danvers, which had 
expelled a person who was hung for the supposed 
crime of witchcraft, revoked the sentence a num- 
ber of years afterward, assigning this as the rea- 
son, — "that it might not stand against her to all 
generations." 

6. We have seen above that King James left 
the British throne in December, 1688. He fled 
to France, and the French king attempted to 
support him ; as the consequence the two king- 
doms and their colonies were involved in war. 
The next year the governor of Canada fitted out 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 57 

three expeditions against the American colonies. 
One party of one hundred and fitly French and 
Indians marched against Nevv-York. They fell 
upon Schenectady, a village on the Mohawk 
River, which they entered at eleven o'clock on 
the night of February 8. The unsuspecting in- 
habitants were in a profound sleep : the cold was 
exceedingly severe, and the snow so deep that 
travelling was deemed almost impossible. Upon 
a preconcerted signal, the inhuman soldiers rush- 
ed into the houses ; men, women, and children 
were dragged from their beds and butchered in 
the snow ; the dwellings were set on fire, and 
the naked inmates compelled to flee in a dark 
night through the cold and snow for safety, or 
to perish in the flames. Sixty persons were 
massacred, thirty were taken prisoners, the rest 
fled through the snow and naked to Albany. — 
Twenty-five of them lost their limbs and were 
otherwise debilitated through the suflTerings which 
they endured in their flight. 

7. A second party proceeded to Salmon Falls, 
in New-Hampshire, where they surprised and 
killed thirty of the inhabitants, and carried away 
fifty-four prisoners. The other party attacked 
the people in Saco, Maine ; they destroyed the 
fort and killed and captured one hundred of the 
people. 

These atrocities alarmed the colonies. Com- 
missioners were appointed to consult on the 
common safety, and a congress of the colonies 
was held in the city of New-York on the first 
of May 1690. 



58 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

An expedition was now fitted out by Massa- 
chusetts of seven vessels and eight hundred men, 
which proceeded against Port Royal ; the fort, 
not being in a state for defence, surrendered 
with but Tittle resistance. Another attempt was 
fitted out againt Canada, but it failed. 

8. From 1690 to 1697 this war, which is dis- 
tinguished by the name of King William's War, 
raged between the French and Enghsh colonies 
with unexampled severity. Barbarities were 
perpetrated by the Indians and the French, in 
this protracted contest, the most shocking to hu- 
manity, and when described scarcely to be be. 
lieved. Women in a state of maternity were 
ripped up, or otherwise inhumanly murdered. 
Sometimes the savages seemed to rack their 
invention to find methods of torture tor the im. 
happy victims who unfortunately fell into their 
hands. Infants were dashed to pieces in the 
sight of their mothers, or at other times they 
were well nigh strangled and then thrown at their 
mothers to be recovered and restored to life that 
they might with their own eyes see again the 
bloody work repeated, till their cries were hush- 
ed by a blow from the Indian hatchet ; or, per- 
haps, they were thrown upon a bed of coals to 
broil. One poor little thing was found fastened to 
the body of its dead mother, where it was vainly 
endeavouring to draw nourishment from her clay, 
cold breast. 

Some were spared to endure tortures more 
cruel than even death itself. Often amidst rain 
and snow, and in the severest cold, they were 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 59 

compelled to travel by night and by day, without 
shoes or clothes, and frequently with but a morsel 
of food for a number of days and nights together. 
Sometimes they expired at the stake to which 
they had been tied, and surrounded with faggots 
they were roasted to death with a slow fire ; or, 
to make the death still more cruel, splinters of 
pitch-knots were forcibly driven into their flesh 
in different parts of the body and set on fire ; 
and even this death might be preferred to many 
of the savage tortures which often awaited those 
who were spared. 

9. An act was passed in 1694 in the Massa- 
chusetts legislature which deserves notice here ; 
it required the selectmen in each town to post 
up in every public house within the town, a list 
of the names of all persons reputed tipplers, or 
common drunkards ; and it imposed a fine upon 
every keeper of such houses, who might give 
them entertainment. 

Yale College in New-Haven, Connecticut, was 
founded in 1701. The churches now having 
become numerous, a greater want was felt of an 
efficient and learned ministry ; and it being some 
distance to Cambridge, it was resolved by some 
of the ministers to have a college in their im- 
mediate vicinity. A petition was soon after pre- 
sented to the general assembly, in which it was 
stated, — " That from a sincere regard to, and 
zeal for upholding the Protestant religion, by a 
succession of learned and orthodox men, they 
had proposed that a collegiate school should be 
erected in this colony, wherein youth should be 



60 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

instructed in all parts of learning to qualify them 
for public employments in Church and civil state." 
The college was first established at Saybrook, 
and afterward removed to New-Haven. 

10. It may not, perhaps, be out of place here 
to observe, in connection with the above and the 
like items of history before noticed in this work, 
that we are indebted to religion and to ministers 
of the Gospel for about all the institutions of 
learning in our country. It is a fact, therefore, 
that ministers of the Protestant faith have gene- 
rally been the guardians of common and liberal 
education. A minister of the Gospel who has 
the advantages of learning himself, will not lack 
the disposition to promote its blessings among 
others as far as may be in his power. It would 
be out of place to stop here to show how deeply 
the Church of Christ and the civilized nations 
of the earth are indebted to sound learning and 
the light of education. 

11. In the latter part of the year above named, 
an attempt was made by the inhabitants of Bos- 
ton to prevent the introduction of negro slavery 
into the colony. We have before seen that the 
first slave imported into New-England was taken 
by order of the general court and sent back to 
Guinea. To these early efforts, it may be, Mas- 
sachusetts now owes her exemption from the evils 
of the slavery system. 



HISTORY OF THE U?<ITED STATES. 61 



CHAPTER IX. 

War of the colonies with the Indians — Spaniards — 
and French. 

1. We have now again to detail the horrors 
of war, and trace, in the history of the times we 
are describing, the accounts which have been 
handed down to us of the shocking cruelties of 
savage barbarity. 

King William III., of whom we have spoken 
in the former chapter, died in 1702, and was 
succeeded in the government of England by 
Ann, princess of Denmark, and daughter of 
James II. Soon after she ascended the throne 
of England she declared war with France, 
which of course, as before, involved the Ameri- 
can colonies. 

2. The Indians, who were at peace with the 
French in Canada, were now ready again to 
lift the bloody hatchet, and rush forth to the 
work of cruelty and death, at the sound of the 
startling warwhoop. On February 29, 1704, 
early in the morning, a party of French and In- 
dians, to the number of three hundred, made a 
most violent assault on the inhabitants of Deer- 
field, Mass. The people had been apprized of 
an attack which was meditated against them, 
and twenty soldiers had been ordered, by Colonel 
Schuyler of Albany, to guard the town. The 
watch patrolled the streets until within about two 
hours before day, and then imprudently fell 
asleep. The enemy seized on this opportunity, 



62 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 

and fell upon the unguarded inhabitants ; in a 
short space forty-seven of them were killed, and 
one hundred and twelve taken prisoners. 

3. The case of Mr. Williams, the minister of 
the town, deserves particular notice, as it is only 
by singling out individual cases of this kind that 
we can form any just idea of the unparalleled 
sufferings which many of the inhabitants of those 
times had to endure. 

A party of twenty broke into his house, and 
entered the room where he was sleeping. Being 
unable to defend himself, he was immediately 
seized, bound, and kept standing nearly an hour 
in the cold without his clothes. They pro- 
ceeded next to ransack and plunder his house ; 
and two of his children, with a coloured female 
servant, were inhumanly murdered before his 
eyes. His wife, who had but a few days before 
become the mother of their last child, was now 
compelled to leave her bed, and, in company 
with her husband and surviving children, started 
off on a journey to Canada. The next day, 
Mrs. Williams, while attempting to wade through 
a small river, for the want of strength fell down, 
and was unable to proceed. The savage who 
took her away immediately cleft her head with 
his hatchet, and left her weltering in her blood. 
Her husband was not suffered to assist her, 
being bound, and nearly famished. Before they 
reached Canada, about twenty of the prisoners 
shared a like fate with Mrs. Williams. 

4. In 1706 Carolina was invaded by the 
Spaniards. The Spanish government considered 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 63 

Carolina as a part of Florida, and to which a 
claim was justified on the account of its having 
been first discovered by them. A fleet was 
sent against Charleston ; but by the vigilance 
and activity of Sir N. Johnson, it was soon 
repulsed and defeated. The following year an 
expedition was fitted out against Port Royal, by 
Massachusetts, New-Hampshire, and Rhode- 
Island. This expedition consisted of one thou- 
sand men ; but it failed for the want of a suitable 
man to conduct it. 

5. Another expedition was fitted out against 
this place in 1710, under the command of Colo- 
nel Nicholson, who left England for this purpose 
with five frigates and a bomb ketch. He was 
joined by about twenty. five transports, belonging 
to the colonies, beside five regiments of troops, 
and sailed from Boston on the 18th of Septem- 
ber. The fort surrendered on the 24th, and in 
honour of Queen Ann was afterward called 
Annapolis. 

6. The war continued to rage with violence 
between Canada and the colonies up to 1713. 
Many towns on the frontiers were attacked by 
the enemy, and the inhabitants either put to the 
sword, or carried away into a tedious captivity. 
A treaty of peace was concluded on the 31st of 
March this year between France and England. 
This event gave peace to the colonies at the 
north, but it did not relieve the people in Caro- 
lina ; for in about a year after a war broke out 
in South Carolina, which seemed for awhile to 
endanger the very existence of the colony. A 



64 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

plan was formed which contemplated its utter 
extinction, and in which all the tribes of Indians 
from Florida to Cape Fear were concerned. In 
this plot the Yamasees, a powerful tribe, inha- 
biting a large territory back of Port Royal 
Island, were the most conspicuous. 

7. On the 15th of April, 1715, the alarm of 
war was given ; and in Pocataligo and its vici- 
nity, in the space of a few hours, about ninety 
persons were murdered. The alarm was soon 
spread over the countr}^ and the inhabitants put 
themselves in a posture of defence. A number 
of engagements were had with the Indians, in 
which about four hundred of the inhabitants were 
slain, when, finally, the tribe who took the lead 
in this conspiracy was expelled from the colony 
into the Spanish dominions, and the dreaded 
calamities in a measure averted. 

8. Till the year 1719 the government of Ca- 
rolina had been held in the hands of proprietors. 
The people had become generally dissatisfied 
with their administration, and they determined 
to resist it at all hazards. An instrument for 
uniting the people of the colony to this effect 
was drawn up and signed by nearly the whole 
of the inhabitants. The government was soon 
after taken into the hands of the king. The 
province in 1729 was divided into North and 
South Carolina, and accordingly two governors 
were appointed from England. 

9. Various causes had contributed to irritate 
some of the eastern Indians, particularly those 
about the Penobscot, Norridgewock, Cape Sable, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 65 

St. Fran9ois, and St. Johns ; and in 1724 they 
commenced hostilities against some of the 
eastern settlements in New-England. Two or 
three years before this they had done repeated 
injuries to many of the settlers in their vicinity ; 
so that numbers of them removed. A treaty of 
peace was, however, concluded with them ia 
1725. 

10. The settlement of the state of Georgia 
was projected in 1732, and commenced in the 
course of the next year. It was taken princi- 
pally from the chartered limits of Carolina, which 
then remained unsettled. The first settlers came 
over with James Oglethorp, Esq., and landed 
at Charleston, whence they proceeded to Savan- 
nah River, and commenced the city which still 
bears this name. In the regulations adopted by 
the trustees for the management of this colony, 
the importation of rum, and the use of negroes, 
were strictly prohibited. In 1736 this colony 
was visited by the Rev. Messrs. John and 
Charles Wesley. They landed at Savannah on 
Friday, February 6, in company with James 
Oglethorp, Esq., with whom they sailed. They 
tarried in the colony about two years, preaching 
the Gospel to the Indians and others as they 
found opportunity. During this time Mr. John 
Wesley formed a small society similar to those 
he afterward formed in England ; but it did not 
continue long after he left Savannah. 

11. The settlement of Georgia makes up the 
thirteen colonies which afterward constituted the 
thirteen United States of America, They were 

5 



66 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

these, viz. Virginia, Massachusetts, New-Hamp- 
shire, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New- York, 
New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary- 
landj North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Georgia. 

12. In 1740 war having been declared against 
Spain by Great Britain, and General Oglethorp 
being appointed to the chief command in South 
Carolina and Georgia, he planned and executed 
an expedition against St. Augustine. With four 
hundred men selected out of his regiment and 
a large party of Indians he proceeded to Florida ; 
he took a small fort about twenty -five miles from 
St. Augustine, and left in it a garrison of about 
sixty men. A few days after he was joined by 
a large reinforcement from Virginia and Caro- 
lina, so that his array amounted to more than 
two thousand men. The Spaniards evacuated 
Fort Moosa on his approach, and fled into the 
town of St. Augustine, two miles distant. 

Oglethorp was now joined by a number of 
twenty-gun ships off St. Augustine bar, and 
finding his attempts to take the town by storm 
ineffectual, he resolved to turn the siege into a 
blockade. 

13. But all his exertions were fruitless. The 
Spanish, notwithstanding the precaution of the 
English, contrived the means by which they 
received a competent supply of provisions and 
troops. They sent out a party of three hundred 
men, who surprised Fort Moosa and retook it. 
The English finally became discouraged by 
sickness and the extreme heat of the climate» 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 67 

Oglethorp finally abandoned the expedition and 
returned to Frederica. 

In 1742 the Spanish sent out an expedition 
against Georgia. At this time they had not re- 
linquished their claim to this province. A fleet 
of thirty sail was now fitted out, and manned with 
three thousand men under the command of Don 
Manuel de Monteano. They sailed up the 
river Alatahama beyond Fort Simons, where 
Ogelthorp was stationed, and landed their men. 
Their object was to penetrate through the woods 
to Frederica ; but frequent encounters took place 
between them and the English, and in one of 
them the Spaniards lost a lieutenant and captain, 
who were killed, and one hundred more taken 
prisoners. 

14. Finding himself unable to stand out 
against the encroachments of the enemy, Ogle- 
thorp now resorted to stratagem to make up 
what he lacked in the force of arms. He wrote 
a letter to a French soldier who had just before 
deserted liirn and fled to the Spanish lines, 
addressing him with feigned confidence as though 
he had been a spy from the English. In this 
letter Oglethorp pressed t!ie Frenchman to en- 
courage the Spaniards to commence an attack, 
and requested him to use every means in his 
power to persuade them to believe that Frederica 
was in a weak and defenceless state ; but if he 
could not succeed in this to urge them to tarry 
at Fort Simons at least three days more, till he 
should have a reinforcement of two thousand 
land forces, and six British ships of war. This 



68 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

letter was carried by a Spanish captive, who 
was directed to deliver it to the French deserter, 
but he handed it as was anticipated to the Span- 
ish commander. It had its desired effect ; while 
they were hesitating as to what measures should 
be adopted for their defence, three ships appeared 
in sight off the coast. These were instantly 
thought by the Spaniards to be the fleet men- 
tioned in the above letter: they immediately set 
fire to the fort, and embarked, leaving behind 
them several of their cannon with a quantity of 
provisions. Thus in an hour of threatened 
destruction, the colony was delivered from blood- 
shed and ruin. 

15. The next event of importance in our his- 
tory is the declaration of war by George II., 
king of England, against France. This was in 
1744. The town of Louisbourg, on the island 
of Cape Breton, was built b)^ the French as a 
security to their navigation and fishery, and by 
its extraordinary fortifications was thought to 
be almost impregnable. In times of peace this 
place was known to form a safe retreat for the 
French ships, and in war it afforded many ad- 
vantages to the French against their enemies. 
An expedition was accordingly planned in New- 
England in which the other colonies v/ere re- 
quested to join, for the reduction of this " Gibral- 
tar of America," as it was called. In a few 
months an army of four thousand men was 
raised and equipped for the service ; and by the 
middle of April, 1745, they had arrived safe at 
Canso. Soon after they were joined by Com- 



mSTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 69 

modore Warren with a fleet of four ships from 
England. 

16. After a severe struggle the town sur- 
rendered, together with the island of Cape Bre- 
ton. The capture of this place was a most 
valuable acquisition to the English, as, beside 
securing the colonies in their fisheries, the 
stores and prizes which fell into their hands 
amounted to nearly a million of pounds sterling. 

But this event exasperated the French ex- 
ceedingly, and they determined now to seek re- 
venge. In 1746 a powerful fleet was fitted out 
against the colonies, consisting of forty ships of 
war, fifty-six transports, and three thousand 
five hundred men, under the command of Duke 
D'Anville. As this armament neared the Ame- 
rican coast the people throughout the New- 
England colonies became exceedingly alarmed. 
But, as the pious of that day believed, Provi- 
dence interposed for their deliverance. The 
French ships were shattered by storms, and 
some of them were shipwrecked ; sickness pre- 
vailed among the crew, the admiral and vice 
admiral both died suddenly, till finally disap- 
pointed and disheartened, the ships which were 
saved from destruction left the coast and returned 
to France. 

17. Other engagements took place between 
the French and the English, from this to the 
time when peace was declared in 1748. The 
treaty was signed at Aix la Chapelle, Oct. 7th. 
In this treaty Cape Breton was restored to the 
French in consideration of some other places cap- 



70 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tured by them which were now given up to the 
English. But unhappily for both countries this 
peace was not of long continuance. 

The events we have noticed in this chapter 
embrace a period of a little less than fifty years, 
and yet it seems to have been one continued scene 
of war and bloodshed. A consideration of that 
age, and the situation of the different nations, 
as well as the progress of light among them, 
will suggest to us the allowance which should 
now be made for many of the evils in which 
they were involved. 



CHAPTER X. 

War with France — and the Indians. 

1 . In the treaty of peace settled between France 
and England noticed at the conclusion of the last 
chapter, the way was incautiously left open for 
future disagreement. The precise boundaries 
of Nova Scotia, which was ceded to Great Bri- 
tain, were not defined ; but it was stipulated in 
the treaty that these should be fixed upon at 
some future period by commissioners appointed 
by each nation for this purpose. In the mean- 
time encroachments were repeatedly made by 
the French upon the territory ceded to the Eng- 
lish, which led to open ruptures between the peo- 
ple of the two nations, and finally to the declara- 
tion of war. This was in 1756. 

2. It is truly painful in tracing the history of 



mSTORY OF THE U^'ITED STATES, 71 

any country to find so much which shows the 
wicked passions of designing men, and gives 
such convincing evidence of the weakness and 
depravity of human nature. But so it is, and 
we must take things as we find them. To know 
%vhat has preceded us in the affairs of this world, 
may be useful to us so far as we are influenced 
to shun the bad example of those who have erred 
and fallen, and to choose the path which the 
great and good Being has promised to crown 
with his favour and blessing. 

3. Measures were now taken in England to 
prosecute the war in these colonies with the 
French. The earl of Loudoun was appointed 
commander in chief of the troops in America, 
but he not being prepared to sail immediatel}', 
General Abercrombie was commanded to take 
his place, and he was ordered to proceed to this 
country without delay for this purpose ; and in 
June he met the troops of the provinces then as- 
sembled in Albany, and awaiting the arrival of a 
commander from the mother country. 

A colonial council, which met at New-York, 
had agreed to raise ten thousand men for an ex- 
pedition against Crown Point ; six thousand for 
an expedition against Niagara ; and three thou- 
sand for another against Fort da Quesne,* in al! 
nineteen thousand, beside two thousand who 
were to proceed up the Kennebec River for the 
purpose of annoying the enemy on the eastern 
frontiers. This complement however was not 
raised from the colonies, nor did those who were 
* Pronounced Du Kane. 



72 HisTcnr or ttie united states. 

raised proceed on each of the expeditions as was 
contemplated. 

4. While the British and colonial officers 
were meditating an attack on Crown Point, their 
attention was arrested with the news of five 
thousand of the enemy who were on their march 
to Oswego. The garrison here having expend, 
ed their ammunition, left the fort, of which the 
French soon after took possession. The Eng- 
lish on leaving this fort proceeded up the river 
about four miles to Fort George. On the next 
day they were attacked by the French, and be- 
ing unable to defend themselves, they surrender- 
ed, to the number of one thousand four hundred 
men. 

The French were again successful in an as- 
sault on Fort Granby, near the bounds of Penn- 
sylvania. About this time the Indians on the 
Ohio River having killed about one thousand of 
the inhabitants on the western frontiers, Colonel 
Armstrong, with a company of about three hun- 
dred provincials, proceeded to Kittaning, the 
principal residence of those Indians, and demo- 
lished it. In this attack about forty of the In- 
dians were killed, and eleven English prisoners 
whom they had taken were released. 

5. During the commencement of 1757 an ex- 
pedition was meditated against Louisbourg by 
Lord Loudoun and the governors of the New- 
England provinces. But while the arrangements 
were in preparation for this enterprise, the 
French had so completely fortified their position 
at that place, that the project was deferred. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. iS 

Montcalm, finding the forces had left Hahfax 
that had been carried there for the purpose of 
engaging in the expedition against Louisbourg, 
now resolved to make a descent upon Fort Wil- 
liam Henry, situated on the shoreof Lake George. 
He advanced with an army of nine thousand 
men ; the garrison at this fort consisted of about 
two thousand five hundred, and the fortifications 
about the fort were strong and defensible. The 
fort made a gallant and spirited resistance for six 
days, but not receiving assistance from General 
Webb, who was stationed at Fort Edward with 
an army of four thousand for this purpose, they 
capitulated. The garrison were to be allowed 
the honours of war ; the French were pledged 
to protect them against the Indians, till they 
reached Fort Edward, but this pledge, however, 
was not regarded, as the savages, connected with 
the French, rushed upon the English as they 
were marching out of the fort, and plundered 
and murdered them in cool blood. 

6. The prospect for the colonies was now, 
1758, generally felt to be discouraging. Their 
arms in many instances, the past year, had been 
unsuccessful. The entire possession of Lake 
George and Lake Champlain had fallen into the 
hands of the French, and not only so, but their 
success at Oswego gave them the uncontrolled 
dominion over those other lakes which unite the 
St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. These and 
other advantages against the colonies, served in 
a great measure to cast a shade over their future 
destiny. 



74 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

A change, however, which was effected in the 
British ministry the year previous, seemed to 
work some in their favour, and to promise a 
brighter prospect. They were considerably en- 
couraged by the attention shown them by Mr. 
Pitt, who was now at the head of the new ad- 
ministration in England. He addressed a letter 
to the governors of the colonies, assuring them 
of the most efficient aid from England, and re- 
questing them to raise as many troops in the 
different colonies as the number of the inhabi- 
tants would allow. With this call the colonies 
were ready to comply, and as early as May, of 
this year, fifteen thousand troops from Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut, and New-Hampshire were 
raised, and, according to the promise of Mr. Pitt, 
a formidable fleet, with about twelve thousand 
regulars from England, had now arrived at Hali- 
fax, under the command of Admiral Boscawen, 
and were ready to join them. 

7. Three expeditions were now proposed ; the 
first was to be against Louisbourg; the second 
against Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; and the 
third against Fort du Quesne. On the expedi- 
tion against Louisbourg, Admiral Boscawen sail- 
ed on the 28th of May from Halifax, with a fleet 
of twenty ships of the line and eighteen frigates, 
and an army of fourteen thousand men. On the 
2d of June the English fleet arrived before Lou- 
isbourg and prepared to attack the town. The 
efforts of the assailants were slow but vigorous 
and successful. The fortress was finally sur- 
rendered, after a most spirited resistance, the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 75 

26th July, upon the most humiUating terms. In 
this engagement the Enghsh had about four 
hundred men either killed or wounded. Five 
thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven of the 
French were made prisoners of war, beside Lou- 
isbourg with all its military stores and provisions, 
as also the Isle Royal, Cape Breton, St. Johns, 
and their dependencies were placed in the hands 
of the English. This was felt by France as a 
very heavy loss, as it very much interrupted her 
intercourse with Canada, and gave the English 
great facilities for making larger conquests in the 
French dominions. 

The inhabitants of Cape Breton soon after 
this victory were removed to France in English 
ships, but the sailors and soldiers were sent as 
prisoners of war to England. The joy was 
great on this occasion, both in New-England 
and in the mother country, and was solemnly 
testified by public thanksgivings. 

8. The expedition against Ticonderoga con- 
sisted of about sixteen thousand men, under the 
command of General Abercrombie. On the 5th 
of July the army was embarked on Lake George, 
and proceeded toward Ticonderoga, where they 
immediately commenced their operations. A de- 
scription of the enemy's fort having been given 
General Abercrombie by some French prisoners, 
he was deceived as to their situation and strength. 
He resolved without hesitation to assail the fort, 
and carry his point by storm. The troops were 
ordered accordingly. They rushed directly to- 
ward the fort, and against the enemy's lirej 



76 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

with incredible intrepidity. They were cut 
down by scores and hundreds in every direc- 
tion ; but still they pushed their way, reserving 
their fire till they might scale a breastwork 
which had been thrown around the fort. On 
arriving near it, however, they found insur- 
mountable difficulties in the way. Trees had 
been felled to a considerable distance in front 
of the breastwork, with their tops outward, and 
the branches sharpened to a point. By these 
the soldiers were retarded in their attempts to 
scale the fort, and for more than four hours 
they were dreadfully exposed to a most galling 
fire from the enemy. 

The general, finding it impossible to accom- 
plish his object, now ordered a retreat, and 
retired to his former camp on the south side 
of Lake George. In this mistaken assault he 
lost no less than two thousand of his men, four 
hundred of whom were provincials. 

9. Colonel Broadstreet now proposed to Gene- 
ral Abercrombie to make an attempt for the 
reduction of Fort Frontenac. Accordingly he 
sent a detachment of about three thousand men, 
with that brave officer, for this purpose, and they 
were furnished with eight pieces of cannon and 
two mortars. With these troops, mostly pro- 
vincial, Broadstreet marched immediately to Os- 
wego, sailed down Lake Ontario, and in the 
evening of August 25th landed within a short 
distance of the fort. In less than two days the 
English batteries bore so hard upon the fort, that 
the enemy surrendered at discretion. Sixty can- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 77 

non, sixteen mortars, a large number of small 
arms, military stores, &c, and nine armed vessels, 
fell into their hands. 

10. The next expedition contemplated was 
against Fort du Quesne. This place was con- 
sidered the strong hold of the French dominions 
over the western country : to dispossess them of 
this fortress, theretbre, was thought to be an en- 
terprise of no small magnitude. But the suc- 
cess which had crowned the previous expedi- 
tion, very much encouraged the attempt, and 
facilitated the undertaking. It was committed 
to General Forbes. He was joined by Colonel 
Washington, in September, with a company of 
Virginia regulars. Before the main army 
marched, Major Grant was sent, with eight 
hundred men, to reconnoitre the fort and adja- 
cent country. The French accepted his chal- 
lenge for an engagement : three hundred of his 
men were killed, and himself and nineteen other 
officers were taken prisoners. General Forbes 
was prevented from reaching Fort du Quesne 
till near the last of November. His army 
amounted to eight thousand ; but when he 
arrived at the fort he found nothing for them to 
do, as the preceding evening the garrison had 
abandoned it, and proceeded in boats down the 
Ohio River. Forbes took possession of the 
fort, erected the British flag, and in honour of 
Mr. Pitt, before mentioned, he called the place 
Pittsburgh. 

11. A treaty of peace was concluded this 
year by the governors of Pennsylvania and 



78 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

New-Jersey, Sir William Johnson, and others, 
with a number of tribes of Indians inhabiting 
the extensive territory 1} ing between the Apala- 
chian Mountains and the lakes. This was an 
important event in the affairs of the colonies at 
this time. The treaty was signed by the repre- 
sentatives of fifteen tribes or nations. 

Near the close of this year an attempt was 
made by the French to engage the Indians on 
the eastern frontiers in hostilities against the 
English, but without much effect. 

Thus we have seen the colonies, in the course 
of 1758, succeeding in their efforts to defend 
their liberties against the encroachments of the 
French, and their prospects brightening for still 
greater conquests. 



CHAPTER XI. 

War with the French — Conquest of Canada. 

1. We now proceed to sketch the events of 
1759. The first expedition this year was 
planned and executed against Ticonderoga ; 
but this was but part of a project which had 
been laid for the entire conquest of Canada. 
Hence it was determined to raise three power- 
ful armies, who should enter that province by 
three different routes at one and the same time, 
and simultaneously attack the strong holds of 
the French in that country. The two other 
places fixed on were Niagara and Quebec. 

2. General iVmherst, who conducted the sue- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 79 

cesstul expedition against Louisbourg the last 
year, now succeeded Abercrombie in the com- 
mand of the army in North America. He was 
to march with a division of the army against 
Ticonderoga, but by various causes was pre- 
vented reaching that place till the 22d of July, 
When he arrived, the lines around that place 
were left by the enemy, who immediately fled 
into the fort. Finding the assailants were likely 
to be too strong for them, they did not make 
much resistance here, as they soon blew up their 
magazines, spiked their cannon, and fled to Crown 
Point ; and before Amherst could arrive at this 
place, they fled again, and retired to Isle Aux 
Noix, at the northern extremity of Lake Cham- 
plain. To this place he was prevented from fol- 
lowing them by the advanced season of the year, 
and for the want of suitable naval forces. 

3. The next expedition was to be prosecuted 
against Niagara. The army under the com- 
mand of General Prideaux embarked on Lake 
Ontario, and on the 6th of July landed about 
three miles from the fort. While making pre- 
parations for the siege, this brave general was 
killed by the bursting of a cohorn. The com- 
mand devolved on Sir William Johnson, as next 
in oflfice. A general battle took place, July 24, 
which gave Niagara and six hundred and seven 
prisoners of war into the hands of the English. 
This victory cut off* entirely the intercourse of 
the French between Canada and Louisiana. 

4. At the same time the above operations were 
in progress in Upper Canada, the most important 



80 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and daring enterprise was prosecuted against 
Quebec, by General Wolfe. This place, made 
almost impregnable by nature, was rendered still 
more strong by art ; so that every attempt at its 
reduction had hitherto failed. It stands on the 
north side of the river St. Lawrence, and is di- 
vided into an upper and lower town. A bold 
and rocky eminence divides the upper from the 
lower town which lies between this and the river. 
On the top of this lofly eminence is a plain upon 
which the upper towji is built. East, and below 
the city, is the river St. Charles, which, emptying 
into the St. Lawrence, places Quebec on a kind 
of peninsula^ In the St. Charles there were a 
number of armed vessels and floating batteries, 
and a strong boom was drawn across its mouth 
to prevent the approach of others from without. 
The channel of this river is rough, and its banks 
are steep and intersected with deep ravines. At 
a short distance still farther down is the river 
Montmorency, and betvv een these two rivers, and 
from one to the oiher, were intrenched a formi- 
dable French army. 

5. General Wolfe had now made a number 
of fruitless attempts to reduce the place, when 
three of his officers formed the desperate project 
of ascending one of those steep precipices which 
lined the banks of the rivers, a height of nearly 
two hundred feet. They laid the plan before 
the general, who was then confined by sickness ; 
he did not hesitate in giving it his cordial appro- 
bation, and in a few days he was sufficiently re- 
covered to engage in it himself. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 81 

To conceal the real design, the troops were 
transported nine miles up the river. On the 12th 
of September, at one o'clock in the morning, a 
strong detachment was put on board the flat-bot- 
tomed boats, which fell silently down with the 
tide to the intended place of landing, where they 
arrived an hour before the break of da)'. Wolfe 
was first upon the shore, and was immediately 
followed by the troops, who instantly began, by 
the aid of the projecting rocks and shrubs, to as- 
cend the precipice. By the break of day the 
whole of the troops had reached the summit, and 
were formed under their respective officers. 

6. Montcalm, the French commander, would not 
believe it when he was informed that the English 
had gained the heights of Abraham, thinking it 
was merely a stratagem fixed on by the English 
to induce him to abandon his present position. 
He was soon, however, convinced of the fact, and 
proceeded to arrange his forces for battle ; they 
soon advanced rapidly to the contest. The bat- 
tle was now begun. About fifteen hundred Ca- 
nadians and Indians, who were most excellent 
marksmen, poured a destructive fire into the 
British lines. Montcalm had scattered them into 
the corn fields and bushes to hide them from the 
sight of the advancing troops, who reserved their 
fire till within about forty yards of the French. 
The English now opened their fire, and the battle 
soon became general. On both sides it was fought 
with desperation, and the destruction became 
immense. Twice General Wolfe was wound- 
ed, but refusing to be carried from the field, he 



82 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

continued to encourage his men, and urge on 
the dreadful conflict. The third bullet pierced 
his breast, and he was against his wishes carried 
to the rear of the line. General Monckton suc- 
ceeded him in the command, but he was imme- 
diately wounded and yielded the command to 
General Townshend. 

7. By this time Montcalm and General Sene- 
zergus, the second in command under him, had 
fallen. The enemy now began to yield to the 
renewed and pressing attacks of the English. 
Their army was divided and broken, some fled 
into Quebec, and others over the river St. 
Charles. The victory was complete. About 
one thousand of the French lines fell that day, 
and as many more were made prisoners ; others 
fled to Point au Tremble, Trois Rivers, and Mon- 
treal. The loss of the English was about six 
hundred. 

Five days after this battle the city of Quebec 
surrendered to the English, and thus the capital 
of New-France became subject to the crown of 
Great Britain, and was garrisoned by about five 
thousand men, under General Murray. At the 
time of its capture it was supposed to contain ten 
thousand inhabitants. 

8. In the spring of 1700 the French made an 
incfiectual attempt to regain what they had lost 
in the above battle. Monsieur de Levi, who 
succeed Montcalm in the chief command, sailed 
from Montreal with an army of more than six 
thousand men, and six frigates, and arrived at 
Point au Tremble, within a few miles of the city. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 83 

General Murray with an army of three thousand 
met him on the plains of Abraham near Sillery, 
April 28th, where a most fierce and bloody en- 
counter ensued. He was defeated with the loss 
of one thousand men ; the French lost twice that 
number. Murray, with the remnant of his army, 
retreated to the city, to which the French laid 
siege on the very evening the battle closed. A 
British fleet arrived but a few days after, and 
the siege was raised. 

9. The total subversion of the French power 
in Canada was now contemplated by General 
Amherst, and he proceeded, accordingly, to bring 
the whole British force in America to the accom- 
plishment of this object. Colonel Haviland was 
detached with an army to Lake George, Crown 
Point, and Lake Champlain ; General Murray 
was ordered from Quebec with as many of the 
garrison there as could be spared, while Amherst 
with ten thousand regulars and one thousand In- 
dians under SirW. Johnson, proceeded to meet 
the above forces for the reduction of Montreal, 
where they arrived Sept. 6th. This armament 
was too strong to be encountered by the French, 
and accordingly without any resistance they sur- 
rendered ; and on the 8th, Montreal, Detroit, 
Michilimackinac, and all the other places under 
the government of Canada, were surrendered to 
the British crown. 

10. In the meanwhile the colonics of Virgi- 
nia and South Carolina were suffering repeated 
hostilities from the Cherokees, a powerful tribe 
of Indians in the west. But they were soon 



84 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

compelled to sue for peace, by the chastisements 
inflicted on them by the troops under Generals 
Grant and Montgomery. 

An armament was ordered out from France, 
some time during this year, for the aid of Cana- 
da. It consisted of one frigate, two large store 
ships, and nineteen sail of smaller vessels. But 
to avoid being attacked by a British fleet that 
had recently sailed up the St. Lawrence, they 
put into the bay of Chaleurs, on the coast of 
Acadia. 

But the whole fleet was soon after destroyed 
by Captain Byron, senior officer of the naval 
force at Louisbourg, who sailed with Ave ships, 
and he destroyed two batteries also, and two 
hundred houses, beside doing other damages to 
the French settlements in Acadia. 

11. Thus the conquest of Canada was achieved 
completely, and the French power totally anni- 
hilated on the continent of North America. But 
it was a conquest most dearly bought, as the 
war had continued from the lirst hostilities no 
less tlian six years ; thousands of valuable lives 
had been lost, and the sufferings and distress en- 
dured by the inhabitants of the contending colo- 
nies impossible to be conceived or described. 

The termination of such a war was justly 
considered the occasion of universal joy and re- 
joicing among the people, and public thanksgiv- 
ings were appointed in many places, to ascribe 
honour and glory unto Him who had interposed 
for the distressed, and saved them from destruc- 
tion. 



HISTORY OF THE UJsITED STATES. 85 

A definite treaty of peace was signed at Paris, 
Feb. 10th, 1763/and ratified soon after. The 
territories ceded to the Enghsh in this treaty- 
were erected into four distinct and separate 
governments, by the king of Great Britain, in 
the October following, which were named as 
follows : — Quebec, Florida, West Florida, and 
Granada. 

12. But while the colonies were now congra- 
tulating themselves with the prospects which 
peace between France and England had opened 
before them, hordes of savages were plan- 
ning farther hostilities, and meditating their 
destruction. The inhabitants on the frontiers 
of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, were 
alarmed and shocked with the most horrid cru- 
elties perpetrated among them. The Indians 
continued to advance, and made themselves mas- 
ters of the distant outposts before the English 
had time to put themselves in a state of defence. 
They compelled many garrisons to capitulate 
on terms which they themselves refused to ful- 
fil, and when they found the whites sufficiently 
credulous to trust their faithless promises, they 
fell upon them, plundered, scalped, and mur- 
dered them in the coolest blood. 

The English forces were soon put in requi- 
sition against the tribes which had engaged in 
these unprovoked cruelties, nor was it long be- 
fore they were sufficiently punished for their 
perfidy, and humbled to peace and submission. 



86 HISTORY OF THE UiN'ITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Acts passed by Great Britain to tax the American 
colonies — Measures taken by the colonies to oppose 
them. 

1. We are now approaching a most import- 
ant period in the course of our history. In the 
preceding chapter we have seen in these colo- 
nies one continued scene of bloody conflict, in 
which were mingled all the horrid cruelties of 
savage warfare. But the thought of all the 
battles, and bloodshed, and sufferings with which 
the people of these colonies had ever been 
afflicted and scattered heretotbre, the thoughts 
of them all were tolerable, because these wars 
were between themselves and another people. 
And notwithstanding the acts of the government 
of Great Britain, whicii they felt so sensibly as 
unjust and oppressive, yet the colonies in North 
America had never indulged any other feelings 
toward the mother country than those of affec- 
tion and respectful loyalty. '• No people," says 
Dr. Franklin, " were ever known more truly 
loyal. Scotland has had its rebellions ; Ireland 
has had its rebellions ; England its plots against 
the reigning family ; but America is free from 
this reproach." 

2. Pownal, who had been governor in South 
Carolina, and governor and commander in chief 
of Massachusetts Bay, under the appointment of 
Great Britain, bears this explicit testimony to the 
above fact. " I profess," says he, " an affection 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 87 

tor the colonies, because, having hved among 
their people, in a private as well as public cha- 
racter, I know them. I know that in their pri- 
vate social relations, there is not a more tViendly, 
and in their political one, a more zealously 
loyal people in all his majesty's dominions. 
They would sacrifice their dearest interests tor 
the honour of their mother country. I have a 
right to say this, because experience has given 
me a practical knowledge, and this impression 
ot' them. They have no other idea ot" this coun- 
try than as their home ; they have no other 
word by which to express it, and, till otMate, it 
has been constantly expressed by the name of 
home.'' 

3. How afflicting, then, must those circum- 
stances have been to the people ot' these colo- 
nies, united as tliey were by so many sacred 
ties to the country which they had ever delighted 
to call their home, — how exceedingly afflicting 
must those circumstances have been which led 
to the disruption of a union so pleasant, and 
linally to their entire separation from any con- 
nection with the mother country. 

In 1T64, soon alter the ratification of peace 
with France, the intentions of the British govern- 
ment to quarter their troops in this country at the 
expense of the colonies, became known here, 
and began to excite alarm. It was proposed to 
raise a duty on tbreign sugars and molasses, 
and on all stamped papers, legal and mercantile. 
The question was now discussed in the house 
of commons, whether thev had a right to tax 



88 HISTORY OF THK U^^ITED STATES. 

the American colonies, Avithout their beitjg re- 
presented, and decided unanimously in the 
affirmative. Soon after this resolution, an act 
was passed in parliament for granting certain 
duties in the British colonies and plantations 
in America ; and the breaches of this act 
committed in Am.erica, it was decided, should 
be examined and the penalties affixed, by 
such courts as were instituted in any part of 
the country, by the crown of Great Britain, 
thereby depriving the defendant of a trial by 

4. These proceedings on the part of parlia- 
ment created universal excitement in the colo- 
nies. The people saw in them the beginning of 
a most oppressive system of taxation, and as 
cruel and unjust as it was oppressive, because 
the charters granted by the very government 
which now attempted to impose these taxes, 
guaranteed to them the right of governing and 
taxing themselves. 

To these measures on the part of Great 
Britain, the colonies were not backward in mani- 
festing the most determined opposition. The 
town of Boston, at its annual meeting in May 
1764, in giving instructions to their representa- 
tives, expressed themselves as follows : — " But 
what still heightens our apprehensions is, that 
these unexpected proceedings may be preparatory 
to new taxations upon us; for if our trade may 
be taxed, why not our lands? Why not the pro- 
duce of our lands, and every thing we make use 
of? This we apprehend annihilates our charter 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 89 

right to govern and tax ourselves. It strikes at 
our British privileges, which, as we have never 
forfeited them, we hold in common with our 
fellow subjects, who are natives of Britain. If 
taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our 
having a legal representation where they are 
laid, are we not reduced from the character of 
free subjects to the miserable state of tributaiy 
slaves ?" 

5. Remonstrances were made, and petitions 
were sent into parliament against these proceed- 
ings, but to no purpose. In the beginning of the 
year 1765, an act was passed for raising a reve- 
nue by a general stamp duty throughout the 
American colonies. It ordained that instruments 
of writing, such as notes, bonds, deeds, &c, should 
be null and void, unless they were executed 
on a certain kind of paper, brought from Eng- 
land, called stamped paper, and on which the 
tax was to be paid to the crown of Great 
Britain. 

This act, however, did not pass without oppo- 
sition, warm and animated. When the bill was 
brought into the house of commons, one who had 
been speaking in its defence concluded with ex- 
claiming in a highly impassioned tone : — "These 
Americans, our children, planted by our care, 
nourished by our indulgence, protected by our 
arms until they are grown to a good degree 
of strength and opulence ; will they now turn 
their backs upon us, and grudge to contribute 
their mite to relieve us from the heavy load 
which overwhelms us V 



90 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

6. Immediately another member, Col. Barre, 
who had been alluded to in the preceding 
speech, arose, and with an eloquent vehemence 
replied: — ""Planted by your care! No! your 
oppression planted them in America ; they fled 
from your tyranny to a then uncultivated and 
unhospitable land, where they were exposed to 
all the hardships to which human nature is 
hablc ; and among others, to the crur^lties of a 
savage foe, the most subtle, and I will take npon 
me to say, the most terrible that ever inhabited 
any part of God's eartli. And yet, actuated by 
principles of true English liberty, they met all 
these hardships with pleasure, when they com- 
pared them with those they suffered in their own 
country, from the hands of those who should 
have been their friends. 

7. ^^ They nourished by your indulgence! 
No ! They grew by your neglect of them. 
"When you began to care about them, that care 
WMS manifested in sending persons to rule over 
them in one department and another, who were, 
perhaps, the deputies of the deputies of some 
members in this house, sent to spy out their 
liberties, to misrepresent their actions, and to 
prey upon them ; men whose behaviour on 
manv occasions has caused the blood of these 
sons of liberty to recoil within them ; men, pro- 
moted to the highest seats of justice, some of 
whom, to my knowledge, were glad, by going to 
tbreign countries, to escape the vengeance of the 
laws in their own. 

^' They protected by your arms ! They have 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 91 

nobly taken arms in your defence, have exerted 
their valour amidst their constant and laborious 
industry, tor the defence of a country whose 
frontiers, while drenched in blood, its interior 
parts have yielded for your enlargement the 
little savings of their frugality and the tVuits of 
their toil. And believe me, rememher, I this day 
told you so, that same spirit whicii actuated the 
people at first, will continue with them still." 

8. But notwithstanding these admirable and 
impressive remarks, the bill passed. The act 
was to take effect the first of November. The 
colonies were now filled with the most serious 
alarm, and measures were every where taken 
against it, and many of the colonial assemblies 
passed resolutions, declaring it to be a gross 
violation of the faith and honour which the 
British government had pledged in the charters 
granted to the colonies. 

A number of resolutions of this kind were in- 
troduced into the general assembly of Virginia, 
by Patrick Henry, at that time a young lawyer, 
and in the conclusion of an animated debate 
which they drew forth from the members, this 
intrepid youth exclaimed, '' Cesar had his Bruius^ 
Charles I. had his Cromwell, and George 111.," 
[meaning the then king of England, but before 
he finished the sentence the cry of tj-eason ! trea- 
son ! from a number of members in the house, 
interrupted him, when after a pause he added,] 
" may profit by their example ; if this be trea- 
son, make the most of it." 

9. Massachusetts took early measures for 



92 HISTORY OF THE UMTED STATES. 

calling a general meeting of representatives 
from the different colonies, for the purpose 
of uniting their counsels in fixing on the best 
means for averting the calamities with which 
their general safety was threatened. Accord- 
ingly a congress of twenty-eight delegates assem- 
bled in New- York, on the 7th of October. 
They were from Massachusetts, Rhode-Island, 
Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsyl- 
vania, the Delaware counties, Maryland, and 
South Carolina. The assemblies of Virginia, 
North Carolina, and Georgia, were prevented 
from sending representatives to this congress by 
their governors. 

10. The first thing which this congress did 
was to draw up a bill of the rights, and grievances 
of the colonies. They declared them to be pos- 
sessed of all the rights and liberties of natural 
born subjects within the kingdom of Great 
Britain ; among the most essential of which are, 
the privilege of trial by jury, and the power to 
tax themselves. They complained of the British 
parliament for imposing certain stamp duties, and 
other duties in the colonies, by which their liberties 
had been directly subverted, and the way opened 
for still greater evils to follow. A petition to the 
king was agreed on, and also a memorial to each 
house of parliament ; and other measures were 
recommended to the colonies, by which they at- 
tempted to conciliate the good will of the crown, 
and turn away the grievances which seemed to 
be designed against them. 

11. Various methods were resorted to by the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 93 

populace in many places throughout the colo- 
nies, to exhibit the indignation and abhorrence 
which seemed every where to prevail against 
this obnoxious act. Mobs were collected, 
houses ransacked, and in some instances destroy- 
ed ; persons were burned in effigy ; processions 
were formed under the pretence ot" paying funeral 
honours to liberty, which was supposed to be 
dead, and minute guns were fired, and the bells 
tolled the knell of its departure. These pro- 
ceedings, however, were highly disapproved of 
by the people generally, and some towns took 
measures to suppress them. 

12. But finally the day arrived when the 
sta?np act was to take effect. It seemed to bring 
with it a cloud which spread over the whole 
country. All business which required the use 
of that kind of paper was suspended. Neither 
bonds, nor deeds, nor notes were either given or 
received ; the courts of justice were closed, 
many merchants shut their stores, even marriages 
were no longer solemnized, and one general 
death-like stagnation reigned throughout the 
civil and commercial concerns of the colonies : 
so deep and determined were the feelings of the 
people against this opprobrious law. 

13. To aid the interests of the colonies, asso- 
ciations were voluntarily formed among the peo- 
ple, which, from the speech of Colonel Barre, 
took the name of " So?is of Liberty, ^^ and others 
were formed, in which females united, each of 
which had for their object the encouragement 
of American industry ; and hence they pledged 



94 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

themselves to forego the use of all the articles of 
foreign clothing, and the common luxuries of 
life, rather than to receive them by way of com- 
merce with England. Sheep were now no longer 
used for food, lest there should not be a sulTicient 
supply of wool without importing it, and other 
commodities previously received in abundance 
from the mother country were entirely dispensed 
with by the people, and packed away as unsale- 
able goods in the warehouse of the merchant. 
Very soon these measures began to be felt very 
extensively by the manufacturers and artificers 
in England : riiey were to a considerable extent 
dependent on the colonies for the sale of their 
goods ; and hence they were not backward in 
uniting their petitions with those from this coun- 
try to parliament for a repeal of the oppressive 
laws. 

14. These measures were not without their 
designed effect. In 1766 a change had taken 
place in the administration of England, and on 
the 18th of March the stamp act was repealed. 
It was but too apparent to the new ministry that 
one of two courses must be taken, the stamp act 
must be repealed, or obedience on the part of the 
colonies must be compelled by the force of arms. 
But then for fear that there might even seem to 
be a disposition to bend or compromise on their 
part, an act was previously passed by parlia- 
ment, asserting in very strong terms their right 
to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever. 
But the import of this act was scarcely observed 
amidst the all-pervading joy which the repeal of 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 95 

the other excited among the people in America, 
and it was celebrated in the colonies with the 
ringing of bells, fire works, and festivals. 

15. The part which that good and ever-to- 
be-remembered Mr. Pitt took in the house of 
commons for procuring this repeal, deserves a 
special notice here. At the meeting of parlia- 
ment, January 7th, 1766, a motion was moved 
for an address to the king on the subjects which 
were then agitating and distracting the councils 
of the nation. Mr. Pilt rose to express his sen- 
timents, which he did in his own nervous, bold, 
and most eloquent style. " It is a long time," 
said he, " Mr. Speaker, since 1 have attended in 
parliament. When the resolution was taken in this 
house to tax America, I was ill in my bed. If I 
could have endured to have been carried in my 
bed, so great was the agitation of my mind for the 
consequences, I would have solicited some kind 
hand to have laid me down on this floor, to have 
borne my testimony against it. It is my opinion 
that the kingdom has no right to lay a tax upon 
the colonies. At the same time, I assert the 
authority of this kingdom to be sovereign and 
supreme in every circumstance of government 
and legislation whatsoever. The idea of virtual 
representation is the most contemptible that ever 
entered into the head of any man ; k does not 
deserve a serious refutation. The commons in 
America have invariably exercised this constitu- 
tional right of giving and receiving their own 
money ; they would have been slaves if they 
had not enjoyed it ; at the same time this king- 



96 HISTORY OF THE UXITKD STATES. 

dom has ever possessed the power of legislation 
and commercial control. The colonies acknow- 
ledge your authority in all things- with the sole 
exception that you shall not take the money out 
of their pockets without their consent." 

16. A profound silence succeeded this speech 
for some minutes, when Mr. Grenville arose to 
reply. After asserting that the tumults in Ame- 
rica bordered upon rebellion, and that if the doc 
trine promulgated that day were coniirmed, he 
feared they would soon lose this name, to take 
that of revolution; "Great Britain," said he, 
" protects America ; America is therefore bound 
to yield obedience. If not, tell me when they 
were emancipated ? The seditious spirit of the 
colonies owes its birth to the faction in this 
house." To this Mr. Pitt attempted to reply, 
but was immediately called to order, as the pri- 
vilege of speaking twice upon the same motion 
was allowed only in a connnittee ; but the loud 
and re})eated cry of " Go on," " go on," induced 
him to proceed. 

17. "Sir," said Mr. Pitt, addressing the speaker 
of the house, "a charge is brought against gentle- 
men of this house tor giving birth to sedition in 
America. The freedom with which they have 
spoken their sentiments against this unhappy act, 
is imputed to them as a crime ; but the imputa- 
tion sliall not discourage me. — We are told that 
America is obstinate, America is almost in open 
rebellion. Sir, I rejoice that America has re- 
sisted ; three millions of people, so dead to all 
the feelings of Uberty, as voluntarily to submit to 



HISTORY or THE UNITED STATES. 97 

be slaves, would have been fit instruments to 
make slaves of all the rest. When, said the 
honourable gentleman, were the colonies eman- 
cipated ? At what time, say I, in answer, were 
they made slaves ?" And then adverting to the 
immense profit which the colonies had been to 
the nation, he proceeded: — "I know the valour 
of your troops, I know the skill of your officers, 
I know the force of this country ; but in such a 
case your success would be bnzardous. Ame- 
rica, if she fell, would fall like the strong man, 
she would embrace the pillars of the state, and 
bring down the constitution with her. Is this your 
boasted peace ? not to sheathe tiie sword in the 
scablwrd, but to sheathe it in the bowels of your 
countrymen ? The Americans have been wrong- 
ed — they have been driven to madness by injus- 
tice. Will you punish them for the madness 
you have occasioned ? No : let this country be 
the first to resume its prudence and temper ; I 
will pledge myself for the colonies, that on their 
part, animosity and resentment will cease. Upon 
the whole, I will be*^ leave to tell this house in 
a {e\v words what is my opinion ; it is that the 
stamp act be repealed absolutely, totally, and 
immediately.^' 

18. This act, as we have stated above, was 
repealed ; and unfeigned and universal joy was 
the consequence throughout England as well as 
the colonies. The commercial intercourse be- 
tween the two countries was immediately revived, 
and the gratitude of the Americans was testified 
by votes of thanks passed by the general asscm- 



98 HISTORY OF TIIK UNITED STATES. 

blies of Massachusetts and Virginia, to the king^, 
to Mr. Pitt, the duke of Grafton, and others who 
had used their influence in procuring the repeal 
of the act which had been the cause of so much 
distress and alarni to the people of these colonies* 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Other acts passed to tax the colonies — The colonies 
refuse to submit to them. 

1. In 1767 other measures for taxing Ame- 
rica were adopted. An act was passed by par- 
liament, imposing duties on paper, glass, painters' 
colours, and teas, imported into the colonies. 
Mr. Pitt was confined by sickness when this 
bill was introduced, and it passed without any 
considerable opposilion. Another act, passed at 
this time, obliged the colonial assemblies to 
provide quarters for the British soldiers sent 
into this country, and to furnish them with fire, 
beds, candles, and other arficles, at the expense 
of the colonies. And for requesting to be ex- 
empted from a compliance with this act, for the 
want of the means, the assembly of New-York 
was prohibited from passing any act until they 
should comply with the requisition. Another 
act, of the same date, .was to establish a custom 
house and a board of commissioners in America. 

2. As might be expected, the news of these 
acts excited the indignation and alarm of the 
colonies, even more than the stamp act had 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 99 

done before. The people had not then to learn, 
that these acts were but a new method of draw- 
ing away their money, and that if continued, the 
destruction of their property, libert}'^, and happi- 
ness would be the ultimate result. Nor did they 
fail to express their just abhorrence of these 
oppressive measures to the king and the British 
parliament, and their fixed determination, by all 
lawful and consistent means, to oppose their 
administration. 

3. But the petitions and memorials of the 
colonists, with however much humility and 
respect they might be presented, were spurned 
away from the throne with apparent contempt ; 
even their complaints seemed to be considered 
crimes, and viewed as a just occasion of in- 
creasing the burdens by which they had been 
extorted. 

To assist the magistrates in the execution of 
the laws which were so obnoxious to the colo- 
nies, a regular force of troops was requested, 
and, according to his majesty's order, a man-of- 
war and transports brought nine hundred of them 
into Boston for this purpose. The ships an- 
chored with their broadsides toward the town, in 
readiness to pour death and destruction among 
the inhabitants, should any resistance be made 
against the landing of the troops. Seven hun- 
dred of them, with loaded muskets and fixed 
bayonets, landed, and with martial music, and 
the usual military bustle^ marched to the com- 
mon. This was in October, 1708. The select, 
men having refused to provide quarters for thenij 



100 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

they took possession of the state house, and 
placed two pieces of cannon facing the door for 
their defence. 

4. It is sufficiently evident that, excepting a 
few individuals, there was no disposition in the 
British parliament to conciliate the good will of 
the colonies, or to remove the cause which pro- 
duced so much alarm and discontent among 
them. Hence, in February, 1769, they took 
another step more unjust and cruel, and more 
exasperating generally to the people, than any 
that had preceded it. An address was voted to 
the king, requesting him to give orders to the 
governor of Massachusetts to take special pains 
to detect all persons in that province who might 
be guilty of treason, and transport them to Eng- 
land for trial. But this measure only served 
to increase the feeling in those whom it w-as 
designed to chasten, which very soon got beyond 
the power of the British ministry either to quiet 
by fair words, or to quell by the force of arms. 

5. To the inhabitants of Boston and its vici- 
nity, the sight of the armed soldiers quartered 
among them was a most disagreeable and irri- 
tating spectacle ; and opportunities were not 
wanting for mutual provocations and insults 
between them. On the 2d of March, 1770, a 
quarrel took place between one of these soldiers 
and an inhabitant of the town, which resulted in 
an affair that made a deep impression on the 
minds of the colonists, and threw them into a 
most serious commotion. Three days after the 
quarrel between the two above named, the sol- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 101 

diers, being under arms in King-street, now 
State-street, were pressed upon by the populace, 
who had gathered around them, and challenged 
to fire. One of them, who had received a 
blow, fired at the person who gave it, and this 
was immediately followed by a single discharge 
from six others. Three of the citizens fell dead 
upon the spot, and five were dangerously 
wounded. The alarm was instantaneous ; the 
bells rung, and in a few moments thousands 
of the people had assembled in an adjacent 
street. 

6. The lieutenant governor soon appeared 
among the assembled multitude, and persuaded 
them to disperse, which they consented to do, 
on his promising that the afiair should be inves- 
tigated and settled in the morning to their satis- 
faction. One of the wounded men died, who 
was buried, with the three others killed, in one 
vault. An immense concourse of people at- 
tended the funeral, which was conducted with 
unusual pomp and solemnity. The business of 
the town was in a great measure suspended ; 
the church bells of Boston, Roxbury, and 
Charlestown were tolled, and every demonstra- 
tion given of the feeling which pervaded the 
whole community. 

7. About this time an attempt was made and 
carried in the English parliament, to procure a 
repeal of all the laws for raising a revenue by 
tax in America, except that part of them which 
imposed a duty on tea. The tax on tea, it was 
said, was continued in order to maintain the 



102 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

parliamentary right of taxation, and the tax 
was suspended on the articles of Enghsh manu- 
facture, for the purpose of encouraging trade. 
But this partial repeal made no change in the 
views and feelings of the colonies ; it was the 
pn?icipJe against which they contended, and no 
means could now heal the wound which those 
hateful laws had inflicted, but an entire and 
everlasting renunciation of the principle which 
they involved. 

ly^'J'l /^^ summer of 1772, the people of 
Khode-Island made a daring exhibition of the 
spirit which now prevailed among them. An 
armed schooner, called the Gasper, had been 
stationed at Providence, for the purpose of aiding 
the board of customs in the execution of the 
navigation laws. The captain of this schooner 
had insolently required all packets, navigatino- 
the Providence River, on passing him to strike 
their colours : and a packet, proceeding up to 
Providence with passengers, was fired at and 
chased by the Gasper for refusing to do the 
captam this honour. In the chase the schooner 
run aground, where she stuck fast. A. plan 
was soon laid in Providence for paying more 
attention to this petty captain than he had de- 
sired. A number of boats were procured, and 
tilled with men, the same night, who pro- 
ceeded to the Gasper, put her crew on shore, 
and then set her on fire. A reward of five hun- 
dred pounds was ofl^ered, and vigorous measures 
taken to detect the persons concerned in this 
afl^air, but to no purpose. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 103 

9. A measure was adopted in the fall of this 
year, by the town of Boston, and afterward by 
all the other towns throughout the province, 
which resulted in much good to the colonies. — 
Conmiittees of correspondence were appointed 
to state the rights of the colonies, together with 
the infringements which had been, or which 
might be made upon them, and to publish the 
same to the world. Similar committees were 
appointed in the other provinces, and the corres- 
pondence which they had' with each other, in 
different places, was the means of diffusing light 
and intelligence among the people generally, 
and by which means they were very much 
strengthened and encouraged in the prosecution 
of the means which were adopted for their gene- 
ral safety. 

10. The time had now arrived when the Bri- 
tish government was determined to test, finally, 
the laws of taxation. For some time the arti- 
cle of tea had been accumulating on the hands 
of the East India company in England, which 
was occasioned by a diminution in the exports 
to America. They had now about seventeen 
million of pounds of this useless drug upon their 
hands, and for which some anxiety was felt, of 
course, to procure a protitable sale. Hence an 
act was now passed by parliament, allowing the 
company to export their tea to America free 
of all the duties with which it was taxable in 
England ; and as this would enable them to 
afford it cheaper in America than in Great Bri- 
tain, it was thought that the colonies would 



104 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

scarcely hesitate to pay so small a duty, as it 
was only three pence per pound. 

11. On the passage of the above bill, large 
shipments were immediately made by the East 
India company of their tea, to Charleston, S. C, 
Philadelphia, New- York, and Boston, with the 
greatest confidence of its finding a ready sale in 
each of these places. In this, however, they 
misjudged ; not a single pound of it was ever 
sold in either of the colonies, nor one pennv ever 
paid as a dut}-. 

Long before the ships arrived containing the 
tea, a plan was laid, and circulated throughout 
the colonies and every where agreed to, which 
very soon brought matters to a crisis. It was 
determined in each of the above places, that the 
tea should not be landed. Accordingly the inha- 
bitants of New-York and Philadelphia sent the 
ships back to London ; those of Charleston took 
the pains, themselves, to unlade the tea and pack 
it away safely in some cellars, from which places 
they refused to have it moved till it was spoiled 
and good for nothing. 

12. The people of Boston made use of every 
possible expedient to induce the vessels which 
arrived in that place with the tea to return with 
it back again, but they failed. The captains were 
willing to go, but the custom house refused to give 
them a clearance ; nor would the persons to whom 
the tea had been consigned release them, with- 
out a discharge of their cargoes, and beside, the 
governor refused to furnish "^the necessary pass, 
port for clearing the fort. Finally a secret plan 



\ 



HISTORY OF THE UMTED STATES. 105 

was formed, while the people were meditating 
on what measures it were best to adopt, to pro- 
ceed to the ships and give the tea one final steep, 
ing in the waters of the dock. Accordingly, in 
the evening of Dec. 18th, about twenty persons 
in disguise boarded the ships, and without any 
tumult, took every chest of tea, to the number 
of three hundred and forty-two, opened them, 
and poured their contents into the sea. 

13. Intelhgence of these proceedings highly 
incensed the British parliament, and, according- 
ly, the next spring a suitable punishment was 
fixed on. As the people of the Massachusetts 
province were thought to be the most deserving 
of punishment, the first and heaviest blow was 
aimed at them. A bill was intioduced into par- 
liament called the " Boston port bill," and pass- 
ed, by which the port of Boston was precluded 
the privilege of discharging, or landing, or of 
shipping goods of any kind, as articles of mer- 
chandize. By another act the charter of the 
province was essentially altered, and the appoint- 
ment of the council, judges, and other officers 
made to depend on the kuig of Great Britain, or 
his <igent ; and a third authorized and directed 
the governor to send any person indicted for 
murder, or any other capital offence, into another 
colony, and even to Great Britain for trial. 

14. But these measures had no effect in 
humbhng the colonists ; they rather served to 
strengthen the bonds by which they were bound 
together, and to inspire them with l>esh zeal and 
courage in resisting what they considered im- 



106 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

just encroachments upon their happiness and 
liberties. 

A meeting of the inhabitants was called in 
Boston on the arrival of the acts above named, 
when the following resolution was passed : — 
"That it is the opinion of this town, that, if the 
other colonies come into a joint resolution to 
stop all importation from, and exportation to, 
Great Britain and the West Indies, till the act 
for blocking up this harbour be repealed, the 
same will prove the salvation of North America 
and her liberties ; and tbat the impolicy, injus- 
tice, inhumanity, and cruelty of the act exceed 
our powers of expression. We therefore leave 
it to the just censure of others, and appeal to 
God and tiie world." Copies of this resolution 
were transmitted to each of the colonies, imme- 
diately after it was passed ; and in return letters 
and addresses were forwarded fi'om every part 
of the continent, exliorting and encouraging the 
people of Boston to persevere in tlie manly de- 
fence of their rig!its, and assuring them of the 
sympathy and co-operation of their sister colo- 
nies in what was now every where considered 
one common cause. # 

15. June 1st, 1774, the Boston port act was 
to take effect. The day was devoutly kept in 
Virginia and some other places, as a day of fast- 
ing, humiliation, and prayer. The Divine bless- 
ing was most solemnly implored upon the sufler- 
ing colonies ; and the ministers of religion did 
not fail to give their people instructions adapted 
to the times. They painted before them the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 107 

dreadful calamities to which they were exposed, 
and the worse evils that would follow a tame 
submission of these colonies to the arbitrary mea- 
sures of their unrelenting oppressors. And to 
the prayers and instructions of many ministers 
of the Gospel of that trying age, the people of 
these United States are now most deeply indebt- 
ed for the civil and religious liberties which they 
enjoy. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

First continental congress — Open hostilities com- 
menced against the colonies — War with England. 

1. During the session of the Massachusetts 
general court, in June, 1774, measures had been 
taken for calling a general meeting of commit- 
tees from the several colonies, for the purpose 
of deliberating on the miseries to which the pro- 
vinces were now reduced, and also to determine 
on the most appropriate means for the recovery 
and establishment of their just rights and liber- 
ties, and the restoration of union and harmony 
between Great Britain and the colonies, which 
was "most ardently desired by all good men." 

2. Accordingly, on the 4th September follow- 
ing, deputies met in Philadelphia from eleven 
different colonies, and the next day organized 
their meeting, by choosing Payton Randolph 
president, and Charles Thompson secretary. 
It was first decided that each colony, repre- 
sented by more or less delegates in the con^ 



108 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

gress, should be allowed but one vote only. 
They next drew up and agreed on a bill of 
rights, recited the various acts of the British 
parliament by which those rights had been vio- 
lated, and declared their repeal to be absolutely 
necessary for the restoration of harmony between 
England and the colonies. They resolved that 
all exports and transports to and from Great 
Britain should cease on the first day of the fol- 
lowing December, unless the cause of their 
grievances were removed. 

3. They farther agreed on a loyal address to 
his majesty, and others also to the people in 
Canada and the inhabitants of Great Britain. 
These papers inspired the people of the colonies 
with great confidence in the wisdom and abilities 
of their delegates, and the justice of the cause 
in which they were engaged. They were every 
where read with kindling emotions of enthusiasm, 
nor did they fail of producing a sympathy and 
unanimity of feeling in favour of the suffering 
colonies, which never forsook the friends of 
America, even in the darkest hour of her peril. 
Lord Chatham, speaking of them in the house 
of lords, expressed himself as follows : — " When 
your lordships look at the papers transmitted to 
us from America, — when you consider their 
decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but 
respect their cause, and wish to make it your 
own. For myself, I must declare and avow, 
that in all my reading and observation, — and it 
has been my favourite study ; I have read Thu- 
cydides, and have studied and admired the 



HISTORY OF THE r?fITED STATES. 109 

master spirits of the world, — that for solidity of 
reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of con- 
clusion, under such complication of circumstances, 
no nation, or body of men, can stand in preference 
to the general congress at Philadelphia." 

4. Measures were now taken by General 
Gage, the governor of Massachusetts, and other 
enemies of the colonies, to prepare for the crisis 
which they saw to be approaching. He with- 
drew the troops from different places where they 
had been stationed, and encamped them in 
Boston. Soon after he caused fortifications to 
be erected on Boston Neck, and repaired and 
manned those at the entrance of the town. On 
the 1st of September he sent a company of 
troops, silently in the night, and took away the 
powder deposited in the arsenal at Ciiarlestown, 
and removed it to Fort William. These move- 
ments greatly enraged the people in the vicinity; 
so much so, that a general consultation was 
thought necessary, and a meeting appointed for 
that purpose. A delegation met, September 
6th, from the several towns in Suffolk, and 
passed a number of spirited resolutions, ex- 
pressive of their determined opposition to the 
acts of parliament, and the means adopted to 
carry them into effect. 

5. An assembly having been ordered by Go- 
vernor Gage to meet in Salem on the 5th of 
October, he undertook to counteract it afterward 
by a proclamation. But the legality of the pro- 
clamation being doubted by most of the mem- 
bers, about ninety of them met, and the governor 



110 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

not appearing, they adjourned to Concord. 
Here they met, and chose John Hancock pre- 
sident ; made some communications to the 
governor, who warned them to cease from their 
illegal proceedings. Without regarding his 
advice, however, they adjourned to meet again 
in Cambridge. On meeting again, they pro- 
ceeded to draw up a plan for the immediate 
defence of the province. 

6. In November this congress met again, and 
resolved to raise twelve thousand men, armed 
and equipped, in readiness to act on any emer- 
gency ; and that a fourth of the militia should 
be enlisted for pay, and stand as minute men ; 
and committees were sent to New- Hampshire, 
Rhode-Island, and Connecticut, to request these 
provinces to assist in raising an army of twenty 
thousand men. 

In the meanwhile the more southern provinces 
were by no means idle. Congresses were as- 
sembled, and committees of safety appointed in 
Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. One 
general spirit of patriotism and self defence 
seemed to pervade the country, and animate 
the people. 

7. In January, 1775, Mr. Pitt made one 
more effort to bring the British parliament to 
the adoption of some means which might restore 
harmony and good feeling again between the 
colonies and the mother country; but the con- 
ciliatory bill which he i»itroduced for this pur- 
pose was contemptuously rejected, and not 
even suffered to lay upon the table for an after 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Ill 

consideration. The very next day an act was 
passed, in despite of reason, and every law of 
justice and humanity, to restrain the New-Eng- 
land colonies from the privilege of taking fish 
from tlie ocean on the banks of Newfoundland. 

8. Another congress met in February of this 
year for the province of Massachusetts ; a reso- 
lution was passed and published, by which the 
people were informed of the warlike prepara- 
tions of the times on the part of Great Britain, 
and what the friends of the colonies might ex- 
pect, should they not be in a state of preparation 
for the storm which was seen gathering. They 
urged, in the strongest terms, the militia and 
minute men to use every opportunity, and spare 
no pains to perfect themselves in military dis- 
cipline. Measures were also taken for supply- 
ing the people with tire arms and bayonets ; 
and thus every precaution was taken for the 
approaching crisis. 

9. General Gage, having learned that a con- 
siderable quantity of military stores had been 
deposited at Concord, a town in Massachusetts^ 
about eighteen miles from Boston, purposed to 
destroy them. Accordingly, on the 18th of 
April, a detachment of eight hundred grena- 
diers, under Lieutenant Colonel Smith and 
Major Pitcairn, were ordered to Concord, and 
particular precautions taken to prevent any 
notice of their approach from preceding them. 
But by the time the troops had reached Lexing- 
ton the next morning, the alarm had been spread 
through the vicinity, and about seventy of the 



112 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

minute men were assembled on the green near 
the church in that town, for the purpose of con- 
sulting what to do. Major Pitcairn immediately 
rode up to them, and boisterously cried out, 
" Disperse, disperse, you rebels ; throw dovvri 
your arms, and disperse." The sturdy farmers 
not instantly obeying his orders, he rode still 
nearer, discharged his pistol at them, flourished 
his sword, and ordered his men to lire. A dis- 
charge of arms iVom the British soldiers fol- 
lowed, a number of the provincials fell, and the 
others began to disperse. The troops continued 
to fire after the citizens had left the parade ; 
eight of them were killed, and a number 
wounded. But a very few scattering shots 
were returned by the minute men, and not even 
these till they were fired upon, killed, and 
wounded, and saw no possible way to escape. 

10. The troops next proceeded to Concord. 
Some measures had been taken here for defence, 
but on the approach of the British the militia 
retired beyond the town. The regulars entered 
the town, destroyed what provisions came in 
their way, and the military stores. As they 
were leaving the town, the militia, receiving 
some reinforcements, pursued them, when they 
were fired upon, and a skirmish ensued ; the 
regulars were forced to retreat with some loss. 
When they arrived at Lexington, Lord Piercy 
joined them with a reinforcement of nine hun- 
dred men, which now increased the enemy to 
one thousand eight hundred. They soon re- 
commenced their march for Boston, but the citi- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 113 

zens continued to press upon their rear, and as 
the alarm of war had now spread through the 
adj;icent towns, their number increased hourly; 
and by their close firing from behind the thick- 
ets, stone walls, and buildings, they kept the 
Briiis'.i in no small confusion. Before the regu- 
lars reached Charlestown that night, where 
they rested, they had lost two hundred and 
seventy-three of their men ; and they were not 
a little mortifit d, in finding that the '■\fiock of 
Yankees,'" as they called the Americans who 
came out against them, had lost no more than 
eighty-eight killed, wounded, and missing. 

11. The dreadfiil drama was now begun. 
The news of this affair soon spread through the 
country, a.nd reached the remotest parts of the 
continent. IMie provincial congress was in ses- 
sion at this time, and they immediately caused 
a minute account of the battle at Lexington to 
be taken and sent to England, together with an 
address to the inhabitants of Great Britain. In 
these communications they showed that the 
British troops were the first aggressors at Lex- 
ington, and they most frankly avowed their 
loyalty to the king, and at the same time ex- 
pressed their unshaken determination never to 
submit tamely to the persecution and tyranny of 
his evil ministry; "appealing to Heaven," say 
they, '• for the justice of our cause, we deter- 
mine to die or be free.'*^ 

12. The signal of war which had been given 
at Lexington was immediately answered by the 
friends of liberty throughout the colonies. The 

8 



114 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

forts, magazines, and arsenals were seized for 
the use of the Americans, and an army of twenty 
thousand men was soon posted in the vicinity of 
Boston, and to which additions were made every 
day. In the meantime the project was formed 
by some bold men in Connecticut of taking by 
surprise Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Ac- 
cordingly a company of volunteers from Con- 
necticut and Vermont, under the command of 
Colonel Allen and Benedict Arnold, marched 
against these important places, and took them 
without any difficulty, May 10th. 

13. About this time a considerable reinforce- 
ment arrived from England at Boston, and 
from some movements of General Gage, it was 
apprehended that he designed to penetrate into 
the country. Tlie provincial congress there- 
fore recommended the council of war to take 
measures for the immediate fortification of Dor- 
chester Neck and Bunker's Hill. Accordingly, 
orders were issued for a detachment of one 
thousand men to proceed to the latter place, 
under the command of Colonel Prescot ; but 
through mistake they commenced their intrench- 
ments on Breed's Hill, which was contiguous to 
the one designated. By the break of day, June 
17, they had thrown up a redoubt four feet high 
and eight rods square. As soon as they were 
discovered, in the morning, they were fired upon 
by the ships of war and several floating batteries 
lying in the river near, and also from Copp's 
Kill, a fortification directly opposite in Boston. 

14. But notwithstanding an incessant shower 



HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 115 

of bombs and shot, which was now pouring in 
upon them from a number of directions, the 
Americans continued their hT.bour, till they had 
extended their breastwork from the east side of 
the redoubt toward the river Mystic, to the 
bottom of the hill. 

Soon after twelve o'clock, three thousand regu- 
lars, under the command of Major General Howe 
and Brigadier General Pigot, landed at More- 
ton's Point, and after forming, they waited for a 
reinforcement from Boston. At the same time 
about five hundred were added to the Americans 
on the hill. 

The issue of the approaching battle now hung 
in dreadful suspense, in the anxious minds of 
thousands who had covered the house tops, 
church spires, and all the heights in Boston and 
vicinity, to witness the horrors of the scene. 

The second detachment having arrived, the 
British troops, in two lines, commenced their 
march up the hill. Tiiey advanced slowly, and 
frequently halted, to allow sufficient time for the 
artillery to produce effect, in demolishing the 
redoubt. At this time orders were given to set 
fire to Charlestown, and in a few minutes nearly 
four hundred houses were wrapped in one gene- 
ral blaze. As the British advanced, they com- 
menced their firing at some distance, but the 
Americans reserved their fire till the enemy 
were within twelve rods.* They then opened 

* A person who was present and engaged in that 
dreadful conflict, once gave the writer a most thrilling 
account of every part of this battle. " Reserve your 



116 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

upon the advancing lines a most destructive fire ; 
they tell in columns ; and the dreadful shock 
brought the ranks witli their backs toward the 
redoubt, and they made down the hill to the 
place where they landed, and some of them 
even took refuge in their boats. 

15. The officers strove hard to rally their 
men ; they ran after them, addressed and threat- 
ened them, till ihey finally ascended the hill 
again. The Americans, as before, manifested 
no haste to throw away their ammunition; they 
waited till the enemy approaclied nearer than 
before, when they poured into their ranks a 
dreadful fire, and cut them down in heaps ; and 
again they fled down the hill in confusion. But 
once more they rallied, and renewed the attack. 
By this time, however, the Americans had ex- 
pended their powder, and were obliged to retreat. 
In making their way over Charlestown Neck, 
they were exposed to a raking fire from the 
Glasgow man-of-war and two floating batteries, 
but providentially a few only were killed. 

In this action the British had one thousand and 
fifty. four killed and wounded, among whom was 
that Major Pitcairn, who wantonly and with- 
out provocation fired upon the citizens at Lex- 
infijton. The Americans had one hundred and 
thirty-nine killed, and three hundred and Iburteen 
wounded and missing. The news of this battle 

fire, — d(.n't throw away a single sliot, my boys," was 
the oft-repeated caution of General Putnam. " AVait 
till you can see the white of their eyes, and aim 
directlv at their waistbands," 



HISTOHY OF THE UNITED STATES. 117 

electrified the whole country, and crowned the 
American forces with the honours of a decided 
victory- 
Bin the joy which it occasioned was mingled 
with sorrow. General Joseph Warren, a gallant 
and distinguished patriot, was found among the 
slain of tliat day. His death was deeply and 
universally lamented. Colonel Gardner of Cam- 
bridge, Lieut. Colonel Parker of Chelmsford, and 
Major Moore, and Major M'Clany, were also 
among the honoured dead. 

10. The second continental congress had al- 
ready met in Philadelphia ; it comprised dele- 
gates from twelve colonies, who were now ani- 
mated with the spirit of freedom, and ready to 
unite their counsels for the safety and salvation 
of the people whom they represented. They 
first agreed on another petition to the king, ad- 
dresses were prepared also to the people of Great 
Britain, and Canada, and to the assembly of 
Jamaica. It was voted to raise and equip an 
army of twenty thousand men; and they unani- 
mously chose George Washington, then a dele- 
gate Irom Virginia, to be general and commander 
in chief of all the American forces, and pledged 
the twelve united colonies, represented in that 
congress, for the raising of three millions of dol- 
lars to detray the expenses of the war. 

On the 6th of July the congress agreed to a 
declaration or manifesto, showing the causes 
which induced them to take up arms, which 
it was ordered shoidd be read to the army ia 
orders, and to the people from the pulpit. — 



118 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

After giving a clear and spirited account of the 
origin, progress, and conduct of the colonies, and 
the measures of the British government toward 
them, they exclaim : — 

17. "But why should we enumerate our inju- 
ries in detail ? By one statute it is declared, 
that parliament can of right make laws to bind 
us IN ALL CASES WHATSOEVER. What is to de- 
fend us against so enormous, so unlimited a 
power 1 Not a single man of those who assume 
it was chosen by us, or is subject to our control 
or influence ; but, on the contrary, they are all 
of them exempt from the operation of such lawj?, 
and an American revenue, if not diverted from 
the ostensible purposes for which it is raised, 
would actually lighten their own burdens, in pro- 
portion as it increases ours. We saw the misery 
to which such despotism would reduce us. We, 
for ten years, incessantly and ineflectually be- 
seiged the throne as suppliants ; we reasoned, 
we remonstrated with parliament in the most 
mild and decent language. 

18. " We are now reduced to the alternative 
of choosing unconditional submission to the will 
of irritated ministers, or resistance by force. — 
The latter is om* choice. We have counted the 
cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful 
as voluntary slavery. Honour, justice, and hu- 
manity forbid us tamely to surrender that free- 
dom wiiich we received from our gallant ances- 
tors, and which our innocent posterity have a 
right to receive from us. We cannot endure 
the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding 



HISTORY OF THE fNITED STATES. 119 

generations to that wretcliedness wliich inevita- 
bly awaits them if we basely entail hereditary 
bondage upon them. 

19. "Our cause is just, our union is perfect, 
our internal resources are great, and, if neces- 
sary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable. 
We gratefully acknowledge as a signal instance 
of the Divine favour toward us, that his provi- 
dence would not permit us to be called into this 
severe controversy, until we were grown up to 
our present strength ; had been previously exer- 
cised in war-like operations, and possessed the 
means of defending ourselves. 

20. " With hearts fortified by these animating 
reflections, we most solemnly, before God and 
the world, declare, that exerting the utmost 
energy of those powers which our beneficent 
Creator hath graciously bestowed, the arms we 
have been comj)elled by our enemies to assume, 
we will, in defiance of every hazard, with una- 
bating firmness and perseverance, employ for 
the preservation of our liberties, being with one 
mind resolved to die freemen, rather than to live 
slaves." 

21. Another resolution worthy of notice which 
was passed by this congress, recommended, in 
view of the then impending calamities, the 20th 
July, to be ke|)t as a day of public humiliation, 
fasting, and prayer. The day was accordingly 
observed with great solemnity, and this was the 
first general fast ever held in one day throughout 
the colonies. Thus we perceive that the leading 
characters in that eventful struggle were men 



120 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

who feared God, and hence we find them com- 
mitting themselves to his care and protection, in 
the important concern which tlien engaged their 
attention. " With an humble confidence," say 
they at the close of their declaration, " in the 
supreme and impartial Judge and Ruler of the 
universe, we most devoutly implore his Divine 
goodness to protect us happily through this great 
conflict, to dispose our adversaries to reconcilia- 
tion on reasonable terms, and thereby relieve the 
empire from the calamities of civil war." 

22. General Washington set out for Cam- 
bridge soon after his appointment, accompanied 
by General Lee, and a number of other gentle- 
men. In every place through which he passed, 
he received the most evident demonstrations of 
respect and confidence from the citizens. When 
he arrived at Cambridge, he found an army of 
about fourteen thousand men, posted in the vici- 
nity of Boston, and forming a line from Iloxbury 
on the right, to the Mystic River on the left, a 
distance of two miles. His first attention was 
directed to the introduction of system and disci- 
pline into the army, a work which the wisdom 
and judgment of Washington* very soon accom- 
plished, though it was by no means an easy task 
to perform. 

He also supplied the American troops with 
ammunition, for which an ordnance ship of the 
British, captured by Captain Manley, contributed 
very timely assistance. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 121 



CHAPTER XV. 

The British evacuate Boston — Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

1. We have before observed that the Ameri- 
cans found no difficuhy in reducing Crown Point 
and Ticonderoga. In the latter part of this 
year, 1775, an expedition was fitted out with 
great spirit against Canada. Tlie charge of this 
enterprise was committed to Generals Schuyler 
and Montgomery. On the first of September 
about one thousand American troops landed at 
St. John's, the first British post in Canada, lying 
a little more tiian one hundred miles from Ti- 
conderoga ; but they found it necessary to retreat 
to the Isle aux Noix. G^^neral Schuyler soon 
after was obliged to retire to Ticonderoga on 
the account of extreme ill health, but he return- 
ed in a few days to St. John's, and opened a bat- 
tery against it. This important post surrendered 
soon after, by which thirty-nine pieces of can- 
non, five-hundred stands of fire arms, and six 
hundred prisoners fell into the hands of the 
Americans. 

2. Montreal next fell into the power of the pro- 
vincials, under the command of Montgomery ; 
here he left a few troops, and hastened forward 
to Quebec. Before his arrival, however, Gen. 
Washington had planned an attack upon this 
place in another direction. He sent out Colonel 
Arnold, with a detachment from his camp before 
Boston, who proceeded up the Kennebec River, 



122 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and forcing their way through that dreary and 
almost impenetrable wilderness which lies be- 
tween the settled parts of the state of Maine 
and the St. Lawrence, they arrived in six weeks 
on the plains of Canada, and encamped at Point 
Levi, betbre Quebec. In this enterprise most 
incredible hardships were endured, as the soldiers 
were often under the necessity of carrying their 
boots and crafts upon their backs for miles up 
the Kennebec ; many of them also became sickly 
in passing the swampy grounds, their provisions 
failed them, and, to support life, they were re- 
duced to the necessity of eating their doffs, 
clothes, cartouch boxes, and shoes. 

3. Montgomery, having now effected a junc- 
tion with Arnold, proceeded to besiege Quebec, 
which was continued nearly a month to no pur- 
pose. They then made a desperate attempt 
to scale the walls, but it proved tatal to the 
brave Montgomery, and with him fell Captain 
M'Pherson, his aid, and Captain Cheeseman. 
The attempt was finally abandoned, with the 
loss of one hundred killed, and three hundred 
taken prisoners. 

Events of importance occurred this year in 
Virginia. Lord Dunmore, the governor, seized 
some military stores belonging to the colony, and 
conveyed them on board a British ship, in 
James's River. Tins conduct roused the re- 
sentment of the inhabitants, and the intrepid 
Patrick Henry, placing himself at the head of 
an armed ibrce in his neighbourhood, marched 
against the governor, with the determined pur- 



mSTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 128 

pose of procuring the stores, or their vakie in 
money. Before he had proceeded far, however, 
he was met by a messenger who paid him what 
he demanded^ and he and his company returned 
to their liomes. 

4. The governor now put himself out of the 
way, and retired on board the Fowey man-of- 
war, and issued his prochmiation, ofiering free- 
dom to all those slaves who would leave their 
masters, and engage in the British service. He 
also put the colony under martial law, and re- 
duced the town of Norfolk to ashes. 

By the close of this year each of the royal 
governors had retired, and the British govern- 
ment ceased tliroughout the colonies. 

Efficient measures were taken this year by 
the general congress to raise a navy to be 
employed in the American service. And in 
December it was resolved to tit out for sea 
tiiirteen ships ; five of thirty-two, five of twenty- 
eight, and three of twenty-four guns, and a com- 
mittee appointed to carry this resolution into 
effect. 

5. For some time before March, 1776, Gen. 
Washington had been contemplating an attack 
on the British forces in Boston. In a council 
of war which he called tor considering tliis sub- 
ject, it was determined advisable to obtain pos- 
session of the heigiits of Dorchester, from which 
he could easily annoy tlie enemy's shipping in 
the harbour, as well as their forces in the town, 
and by these means he hoped also to succeed in 
bringing on a general engagement. In the night 



124 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of the 4th of March a detachment of eight hundred, 
followed by a working party of twelve hundred 
more, proceeded silently with suitable tools, and 
took possession of the heights. They laboured 
with incredible diligence through the night, 
and by morning they were securely defended by 
the works they had thrown up from the firing of 
the enemy. 

6. In the morning the British were utterly 
astonished at the sight of what they saw upon 
the heights, and they confessed that there was 
no safety for their ships in the harbour unless 
the Americans were driven at once from these 
intrenchments : without hesitancy, therefore, 
they determined either to dislodge them or eva- 
cuate the town. The latter was immediately 
chosen, and means adopted to effect it. The 
British accordingly evacuated Boston, March 
17, under the command of Lord William Howe, 
to the number of ten thousand strong ; and the 
last of them were scarcely out of town when 
General Washington entered in triumph, and 
was received with expressions of unfeigned re- 
joicing by the afflicted inhabitants. 

7. In June and July of this year an attempt 
was made by General Clinton and Sir Peter 
Parker to destroy the fort on Sullivan's Island, 
near Charleston, South Carolina. On the morn- 
ing of the 28th, nine ships of two hundred and 
fifty guns commenced a violent assault upon 
the fort, which was garrisoned by four hundred 
Americans under tiie command of Capt. Moultrie. 
On the fort were mounted twenty-six cannon 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 125 

of eighteen and nine pounders. After n. fierce 
and bloody action of ten hours, the British re- 
tired with the loss of two hundred killed and 
wounded, beside considerable damage which was 
done to their shipping. The Americans had but 
ten killed and twenty-two wounded. Among the 
American troops stationed in this fort, there was 
a Sergeant Jasper who distinguished himself 
during this action, and whose heroism it may be 
proper briefly to notice here. 

8. In the heat of ihe action the flag staff" of 
the fort was shot away, and the flag fell to the 
bottom of the ditch upon the outside of the fort. 
As soon as Jasper discovered this accident, he 
leaped from one of the embrasures, snatched 
up the flag, and regardless of the shots of the 
enemy, he placed it upon the rampart, where 
he held it until another staff* was procured. 
The conduct of all the American soldiers was 
alike heroic in that engagement, and worthy 
of grateful remembrance. Some of them wliile 
in the agonies of death exhorted their compa- 
nions not to yield, but to die in defence of liberty. 
The garrison afterward received the thanks of 
congress for their gallantry, displayed on that 
day, and well they deserved more honours than 
they ever received. 

9. The time had now arrived when many in 
the colonies began to contemplate the probable 
issue of the contest in which they were engaged. 
They had taken up arms merely in self defence ; 
they had from the beginning made the sincerest 
professions of their loyalty, and declared their 



126 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

readiness to lay down their arms as soon as the 
cause of their grievances was removed. But 
the encroachments which had been made upon 
their Uberties by those who should have protect- 
ed them, and the hostihties which had been 
committed against them, now began to work a 
material change in tlie minds of the people. — 
Essays on the evils of monarchy, and the bless- 
ings of republican institutions, were industriously 
circulated in newspapers and pamphlets through- 
out the country. 

10. In May, of this year, congress had re- 
commended to all those colonies that had not 
adopted constitutions, not to delay the establish- 
ment of such forms of government for themselves 
as might best conduce to the safety and happi- 
ness of the people. The compliance of the 
colonies with this recommendation, gave the 
people generally a good conception of the supe- 
rior advantages of an elective government, and 
a desire for independence. Accordingly, on the 
8th of June, Richard Henry Lee, one of the de- 
legates from Virginia, made a motion, which 
was seconded by John Adams, of Massachusetts, 
for declaring the colonies free and independent. 
This motion called tbrth some very interesting 
debates. In conclusion of Mr. Lee's remarks 
in its support, he said : — " Why do we longer 
delay, why deliberate ? Let this most happy day 
give birth to the American republic. Let her 
arise, not to devastate and to conquer, but to re- 
establish the reign of peace and of the laws. — 
The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us ; she de- 



HISTORY OF THE UISITED STATES. 127 

mands of us a living example of freedom, that 
may contrast, by the felicity of the citizens, with 
the ever increasing tyranny which desolates 
her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare 
an asylum, where the unhappy may find solace, 
and the persecuted repose. She entreats us to 
cultivate a propitious soil, where that generous 
plant, which first sprung up and grew in Eng- 
land, but is now withered by the poisonous blasts 
of Scottish tyranny, may revive and flourish, 
sheltering, under its salubrious and intermina- 
ble shade, all the unfortunate of tlie human 
race." 

11. On the 11th of June this motion was dis- 
cussed again, and a committee appointed to 
draw up a declaration according to the resolu- 
tion. This committee consisted of Thomas Jef- 
ferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger 
Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. On the 
memorable 4th of July, this declaration was 
unanimously adopted, by which these thirteen 
united colonies dissolved their cormection with 
the British crown, and declared themselves free 
and indtyendent states. 

12. " We hold these truths," say they in their 
declaration, " to be self evident, that all mankind 
are created equal ; and that they are endowed 
b}-^ their Creator with certain unalienable rights; 
that among these, are life, liberty, and the pur. 
suit of happiness ; that to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers troni the consent of the govern- 
ed ; that whenever any form of government be- 



128 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

comes destructive of these ends, it is the right 
of the people to aher or aboHsh it, and to insti- 
tute a new government, laying its foundation 
on such principles, and organizing its powers in 
such form, as to them may seem most likely to 
effect their safety and happiness." 

13. This able paper then goes on to a brief 
recital of the repeated injuries which the king of 
Great Britain had inflicted upon the people of 
these colonies, and the means which had been 
used to obtain redress, but without effect. " We, 
therefore," it proceeds, " the representatives of 
the United Slates of America, in general con- 
gress assembled, appealing to the supreme Judge 
of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, 
do, in the name, and by the authority of the good 
people of these colonies, solemnly publish and 
declare, that these united colonies are, and of 
right ought to be, free and iNnKPi^ADEXT 
STATES ; that they are absolved from all alle- 
giance to the British crown, and that all political 
connection between them and the state of Great 
Britain is, and of right ought to be, totally dis- 
solved ; and that, as free and independent states, 
they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, 
contract alliances, establish commerce, and do 
all other acts and things which independent states 
may of right do. Atid for the support of this 
declaration, with a firm reliance on the protec- 
tion of Divine Providence, we mutually |)ledge 
to each our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred 
honour." 

14. The news of the above act of congress 



HISTORV OF THE UMTED STATES. 129 

was hailed with great joy throughout the colo- 
nies ; it was received in nearly every city and 
hamlet with extraordinary expressions of ecsta- 
sy, and it diffused through the army a spirit of 
enthusiastic devotion to the cause of liberty and 
independence. 

This event marks a new era in our history, 
and one which is unparalleled in the history of 
the world. The rise and fall of empires, and 
fate of all the nations which have ever been 
known, together with all the convulsions which 
have agitated the political world, cannot have 
been mor« eventful and lasting in their conse- 
quences. And what subject can be more inte- 
resting, than to contemplate, for a moment, the 
settlement of these colonies ; their poverty and 
want, their strugglings with the savage foes 
which surrounded them ; their patience under 
the accumulated weight of oppressions which 
were heaped upon them ; and then their stepping 
into the held, without arms, to meet a powerful 
and vindictive foe— -and yet, with ten thousand 
chances against them, to see them rising above 
their oppressors, free and independent, to take 
their place among the most powerful nations of 
the earth. 

15. The government they established still 
lives, an iinperishabie monument of the wisdom 
and integrity of those who formed it, an asylum 
for the oppressed, shedding its blessing upon 
millions of free and happy people. 

Let us who now enjoy the blessings which it 
imparts, lift our hearts in gratitude to that gr^at 
9 



130 HISTORY OF THE UMTED STATES. 

and good Being by whose kind providence they 
were given, and not forget the toil and bloodshed 
with which they were bought. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Battle on Long Island — White Plains — Trenton — and 
Princeton. 

1. The attention of General Washington had 
for some time been directed to New-York, and 
having every reason to believe that the enemy 
designed to possess themselves of that important 
place, he resolved as soon as possible to make 
it the head quarters of his army. At the same 
time many people in the counties contiguous to 
the city, in lending their assistance in that im- 
portant crisis, showed their willingness to co- 
operate with the commander-in-chief in all his 
measures for the promotion of the general safety ; 
and accordingly one fourth of the militia in the 
above counties were immediately engaged, and 
sent to his service. 

The American army, now in the neighbour- 
hood of New-York, amounted to seventeen thou- 
sand two hundred and twenty- five men ; these 
were divided, and a part stationed at Brooklyn, 
Long Island, others in the city, and a few in 
some other places. 

2. In July, General Howe, with a powerful 
naval force, arrived in the harbour of New-York, 
and accompanied with an army of twenty-four 



HISTORY OF THE UMTED STATES. 131 

thousand men ; and being joined by his brother, 
Admiral Howe, it was determined to make their 
first attack on Long Island, and accordingly they 
landed at Gravesend Bay, to the right of the Nar- 
rows, nine miles from the city. 

General and Admiral Howe, before they com- 
menced their military operations, proposed to 
effect a union between the colonies and the go- 
vernment of Great Britain, as they had been 
empowered as commissioners for this purpose. 
In making their proposals, however, they were 
too haughty to address General Washington by 
the proper title due to his rank, and he conse- 
quently declined noticing their communication. 
They finally addressed the principal magistrates 
in the colonies, and promised pardons to ail such 
as would abandon the cause of treedom and sub- 
mit peaceably to the yoke of British tyranny. 

3. The Americans, stationed on the island, 
were posted near Brooklyn, to the number of 
fifteen thousand, under the command of Major 
General Sullivan. On the 27th of August they 
were attacked by the British forces under Sir 
Henry Clinton, Percy, and Cornwallis, and after 
a spirited and desperate resistance, they were 
defeated with the loss of more than a thousand 
men. The loss of the enemy was about four 
hundred. During this engagement, General 
Washington passed over to Brooklyn, where he 
witnessed with indescribable concern the slaugh- 
ter of his troops, but it was out of his power to 
afford them assistance, as the forces of the ene- 
my so far outnumbered his own. On the 30th 



132 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

he effected their retreat from the island with 
great prudence and abihty. 

4. Lord Howe now supposed the Americans 
were sufficiently chastened for their rebellion, 
and of course were ready to accept of the over- 
tures which he made to congress. A commit- 
tee was appointed to meet him on Staten Island 
according to his request ; and as a hostage for 
their safety, he sent one of his principal officers. 
But the committee took the hostage with them 
when they proceeded to the British head quar- 
ters, to show that they had more confidence in 
their cause, than in the enemies who attempted 
to oppress them. They soon found, however, 
that the British general was not disposed to re- 
ceive them in the character of representatives of 
free and independent states, and of course the 
conference closed without their coming to any 
definite conclusion. 

5. It now became an object of importance 
with General Washington to leave New-York, 
and accordingly, about the middle of September, 
he retired with his troops to the heights of Har- 
laem, and the enemy immediately took possession 
of the city. Soon after, a considerable body of 
the British troops proceeded to the plains be- 
tween the two camps, and Washington resolved 
to attack them. Colonel Knowlton, with a 
corps of rangers, and Major Leitch with three 
companies of a Virginia regiment, were ordered 
to assail them in the rear, while he proceeded as 
if to attack them in the front. A spirited en- 
gagement followed, and the Americans were 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 133 

successful ; they lost about fifty men, and the 
British one hundred. General Howe next at- 
tempted to dislodge Washington from Harlaem, 
and accordingly he embarked a considerable part 
of his forces in flat-bottomed boats through Hell- 
gate* into the sound, and landed them at a place 
called Frog's Neck. But Washington was ap- 
prized of his design, and moved his army to the 
northward, toward White Plains. 

6. He was pursued, and on the 28th of Octo- 
ber attacked by the British and Hessians, and a 
partial action was fought, and about the same 
number lost on both sides. There were a num- 
ber of reasons whicl\ prevented Washington at 
this titne from entering into a general engage- 
ment with the enemy. Considerable numbers 
of the militia and some of the troops had desert- 
ed and left his standard, and many others, from 
various causes, had become discouraged ; and 
beside, the whole of his army was but as a hand- 
ful in comparison with tlie enemies they had to 
encounter. Hence his plan was to harass and 
wear out the enemy as much as possible, with- 
out coming to any general action, unless success 
in it was pretty certain. In the meantime, he 
hoped to succeed in diffusing among his troops 
such a spirit of persevering ambition as would be 
of special service to the cause whenever it were 
necessary to call it into exercise. 

7. Finding it impossible to draw Washington 
into such an engagement as he desired, Howe 
next resolved to return and reduce fort Wash- 

* Or Hurlgate, as it is sometimes called. 



134 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ington, where, for the defence of which, three 
thousand Americans had been garrisoned. It 
was assailed on the 16th of November; Colonel 
Magaw and his men made a gallant defence, but 
they were finally compelled to yield to the supe- 
rior forces of the enemy. Two days after the 
British crossed the Hudson, and proceeded to at- 
tack Fort Lee, which was directly opposite. — 
The garrison here determined at first to make 
what defence they could, but finding the numbers 
of the enemy so tar exceeded their own, they im- 
mediately evacuated the fort, under the direction 
of General Greene, and joined Washington at 
Newark, N. J., on the south side of the Passaic. 

But Washington soon found it necessary to 
leave Newark : with the British forces in pursuit 
of him, he retreated successively to Brunswick 
and to Princeton, till finally he crossed the Dela- 
ware into Pennsylvania ; and so closely was he 
followed in this flight, that the rear of the Ame- 
rican army was often within sight, and within 
shot of the van of the other. 

8. The circumstances under which this retreat 
was eflfected, deserve some notice, as they shed 
the brightest lustre upon the character of him by 
whom it was conducted. We have before stated, 
that a spirit of discouragement and discontent 
pervaded the American army, and during all this 
time it had rather been increasing. Two forts 
had now been lost, and with one about three 
thousand men. The time had expired for which 
large proportions of the militia had engaged to 
serve ; and they accordingly, with many of the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 135 

troops, wished to be discharged. Bodies of 
ihem finally left the army, and retired to their 
homes ; so that Washington had barely three 
thousand left. 

9. And then, the general distress was height- 
ened by the want of food, blankets, and tents 
for such as remained ; and stern winter had 
already set in. But in the midst of these affect- 
ing calamities, the patience and fortitude of 
Washington were the more conspicuous, and 
excited the wonder and admiration of all around 
him. He betrayed no symptoms of fear ; and 
the unyielding firmness and constancy which 
the army beheld in him, in that dark hour of his 
country's peril, served more than any other 
cause, perhaps, to inspire them with persevering 
confidence and hope of ultimate success. 

But Washington fixed on a plan which very 
soon changed the aspect of affairs. On the 
night of December 25th, with two thousand 
four hundred men, he crossed the Delaware in 
a storm of snow and rain, surprised a body of 
Hessians stationed at Trenton, and took nine 
hundred prisoners, without the loss of scarcely 
half a dozen of his men. This bold achieve- 
ment put new life into the American troops, and 
imbued them with a spirit which prepared them 
for future conquests. 

Washington next proceeded to Princeton, and 
on the 1st of January, 1777, engaged a party 
of the enemy with success ; more than one hun- 
dred of them were killed, and about three hun- 
dred more were taken prisoners. He soon after 



136 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

carried his army into winter quarters at Morris- 
town. 

10. We may now turn our attention from the 
contemplation of these warhke scenes, and 
notice some of the doings of congress, at the 
close of this year, 1776. On the 11th of De. 
cember, congress passed the following resolu- 
tion : — " Whereas the war in which the United 
States are engaged with Great Britain, has not 
only been prolonged, but it is likely to be car* 
ried to the greatest extremity ; and whereas it 
becomes all public bodies, as well as private 
persons, to revei-ence the providence of God, 
and look to him as the supreme disposer of all 
events, and the arbiter of the fate of nations ; 
therefore resolved, that it be recommended to all 
the United States, as soon as possible, to appoint 
a day of solemn fasting and humiliation, to 
implore of almighty God the forgiveness of the 
many sins prevailing among all ranks, and to 
beg the continuance and assistance of his provi- 
dence in the prosecution of this just and neces- 
sary war." 

11. "The congress do also, in the most 
earnest manner, recommend to all the members 
of the United States, and particularly the officers, 
civil and miUtary, under them, the exercise of 
repentance and reformation ; and farther, require 
of them the strict observance of the articles of 
war, and particularly that part of the said arti- 
cles which forbids profane swearing, and all 
immorality, of which such officers are desired 
to take notice." 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 137 

12. Articles of confederation were adopted 
this year by congress. By these articles it was 
agreed, that each state should reserve the right 
of forming laws for the regulation of its own 
government, while they were to contribute for 
the common defence of the whole. No alii- 
ances were to be made with any power, or 
government, nor to send ambassadors, or receive 
them from any other nation, without the consent 
of the United States. 

No presents were to be received from any 
foreign king or power, by any who held a com- 
mission from the United States ; and no titles 
of nobility were to be conferred by any indivi- 
dual state. Other regulations also were included 
in these articles, by which the powers and liber- 
ties of the several states were defined, and the 
relation described which each would sustain to 
the whole. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Campaign of 1777. 

1. The general congress took some efficient 
measures for the support of the American cause 
this year. They resolved to increase the army 
by enlisting men to serve for three years, or 
during the war, and they also made large emis- 
sions of money for meeting the expenses. Com- 
missioners were appointed, and sent to the court 
of France, for the purpose of soliciting from that 



138 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

nation a loan of money and a supply of arms. 
This mission was successful. Very soon after 
a vessel from France arrived in Portsmouth, 
N. H., with more than eleven thousand stands 
of arms, and one thousand barrels of powder ; 
and about the same time ten thousand stands of 
arms arrived in another place. 

2. These supphes came most opportunely for 
the American cause. A lamentable state of 
destitution of ammunition, as well as food and 
clothing, had in a number of cases greatly 
afflicted the American troops. Sometimes whole 
regiments were without a single blanket or tent 
in the most inclement part of the season, and 
they were often under the necessity of marching 
upon the frozen ground without shoes, and their 
bare feet were so lacerated and torn, that they 
marked the roads with their blood. 

3. Those who had been made prisoners of 
w^ar during the past year, were doomed by their 
unfeeling enemies to endure greater hardships 
still. They were mostly confined in churches 
and ships in New-York, and during the severest 
part of a most rigorous winter they were de- 
prived of fire, and without clothes ; and fre- 
quently whole days passed when they were not 
supplied with a mouthful of food, and even when 
it was brought to them, it was .so damaged 
and loathsome, as to be unfit to be tasted ; so 
that numbers perished with hunger, still more 
with the disease produced by the food which 
ihey ate. And it is said of some of those mise- 
rable sufferers, thnt when they were released 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 139 

to be exchanged, in attennpting to walk from the 
places of their confinement to the vessels ap- 
pointed to carry them away, they fell down and 
died in the streets, so greatly were they reduced 
by the complicated sufferings which they were 
compelled to endure. 

4. Washington left his winter quarters near 
the end of May and proceeded to Middlebrook ; 
by this time his army had been augmented to 
near ten thousand. The British forces soon 
after left Brunswick, and General Howe by 
various movements endeavoured to draw Wash- 
ington from his plan, and involve him in a general 
engagement. Not succeeding in his attempts, 
he next proceeded to Staten Island. From this 
place he sailed with sixteen thousand troops on 
the 24th of July ; his design was kept concealed 
till on the 24th of August he landed at the head 
of Elk River, and being soon after joined by the 
troops under Grant and Knyphausen, the whole 
army, in two columns, marched directly for 
Philadelphia. 

5. During the whole of this time Washington 
had been watching the movements of the enemy, 
and suspecting it was tlieir design to take pos- 
session of Philadelphia, he had brought nearly 
the whole of his army and placed them behind 
Red-Clay Creek, on the road directly between 
the British camp and the city. On the 11th of 
September the two forces met, and after an un- 
equal engagement, which continued nearly the 
whole day, the Americans were compelled to re- 
tire, and a retreat was ordered to Chester. In this 



140 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

battle the Americans lost three hundred killed, 
and about six hundred were wounded, and more 
than half of these were made prisoners. The 
loss of the British was one hundred killed, and 
four hundred wounded. 

6. Two foreign officers fought in this battle, 
the Marquis de la Fayette, and Count Pulaski, a 
nobleman from Poland ; the former was Avounded 
in the leg while endeavouring to rally some of 
the Americans, who were turning their backs to 
the enemy. These valiant men had left their 
native soil to assist the opprest in asserting their 
rights against the tyranny of foreign foes. 

As this battle was scarcely considered deci- 
sive on either side, movements were made again 
immediately for another. Accordingly they met 
at Goshen, September 16th, but a heavy shower 
of rain separated the advanced parties, who had 
begun to skirmish. As the powder in the car- 
tridge boxes of the Americans became wet, the 
whole army was compelled to retire. 

7. But we must now leave Washington and 
his army a few moments, and turn our attention 
to the north, as a number of events have already 
taken place there which are worthy of notice. 
In the fall of 1776 there was a severe engage- 
ment between the naval forces of the Americans, 
under General Arnold, and of the British, under 
Sir Guy Carleton, on Lake Champlain. The 
action lasted about an hour, and the enemy, not 
being able to bring the whole of their force into 
the engagement, retired. The action was re- 
nevved the next day, when the Americans, 



HISTORY or THE UNITED STATES. 141 

having bravely defended themselves against a 
superior force as long as there appeared to be 
any possibility of success, run their vessels upon 
the shore, and set them on fire. 

8. The next spring a plan was matured in 
England, at the instance of General Burgoyne, 
for the invasion of the northern states, by which 
it was supposed all intercourse with the colo- 
nies would be effectually cut off between New- 
England and the southern and middle states, and 
a communication opened for the British between 
Canada and New- York. By this means it was 
thought the country would be easily divided 
and subdued. For the execution of this project, 
seven thousand choice troops, beside a powerful 
train of artillery, and several tribes of Indians, 
were placed under the command of General 
Burgoyne, and a number of officers of distin- 
guished abilities were selected to aid him in the 
enterprise. On the first of July he landed, and 
proceeded immediately to invest Ticonderoga. 
The American garrison, under the command of 
Gen. St. Clair, amounted to about three thousand 
men ; at this time they were short of provisions, 
the only alternative for them therefore was to 
submit or abandon the fort. They accordingly 
left it on the 5th : they were closely pursued into 
Vermont, and from thence to Hudson River. la 
their march, however, the rear of the army was 
overtaken and attacked by the British. The ac- 
tion was severe on both sides for awhile, when 
others of the enemy arriving, the Americana 
made a rapid retreat. 



142 HISTORY OF Till: UMTJiD STATES. 

9. Soon after, these joined General Schuyler 
at Fort Edward : the whole army retired to Sara- 
toga, thence to Bridgewater, and the British still 
continuing to pursue them, they retreated on the 
14th of August to Van Shaick's Island, a few 
miles north of Troy. 

General Burgoyne with a considerable body 
of his troops, after he took possession of Ticon- 
deroga, proceeded to Skeensborough, and de- 
stroyed a quantity of military stores which had 
been deposited there. Then he went to Fort 
Edward ; and while he stayed there he sent a 
large detachment of his troops, with one hun- 
dred Indians for the same purpose, to Benning- 
ton, Vermont. 

10. In this attempt, however, he was totally 
defeated. Col. Baum, who commanded this de- 
tachment, on his arrival near Bennington, learn- 
ing that the Americans were prepared to give 
him a warm reception, halted and sent back to 
Burgoyne for a reinforcement. At this titne 
General Slark, who was on his way to join 
General Schuyler, hearing of Baum's attempt, 
proceeded immediately to Bennington, where he 
united his miUtia with a company of Green 
Mountain Boys, and marched on the 16th of 
August to attack Baum in his intrenchments. 
A fierce and bloody battle followed : for two 
hours the contest was dreadful, till finally the 
enemy took to flight, after the most of them 
were killed or made prisoners. At this moment 
the reinforcement from Burgoyne arrived, and 
tlie action was renewed ; and happily for the 



HISTORV OF THE UNITED STATES. 143 

Americans, a company at this juncture arrived 
from Manchester, under Col. Warner : the battle 
was continued till sunset, when the British fled 
with the loss of about seven hundred in killed 
and wounded ; the Americans lost about one 
hundred. 

11. The news of this decisive victory soon 
diffused new confidence and encouragement 
through the United States. The clouds of mis- 
fortune which before had seemed to lower upon 
the destiny of the nation were now dissipated, and 
the rainbow of promise arched the heavens in 
their place. 

The prospects of the Americans continued 
to brighten : the garrison at Fort Schuyler under 
Colonels Gansevoort and Willet, under circum- 
stances the most discouraging, made a successful 
defence against the powerful forces of St. Leger. 
Burgoyne, after the defeat which his detach- 
ment suffered at Bennington, found himself under 
the necessity of sending to Fort George for his 
provisions. After accomplishing this difficult 
labour, he removed his army and encamped 
about four miles from the Americans, now com- 
manded by General Gates, who had succeeded 
Gen. Schuyler. A few days after, the scouting 
parties of the two armies had a number of skir- 
mishes, which were continued till about the whole 
of both armies were engaged. A most obstinate 
and destructive battle ensued ; each party pre- 
vailed by turns, till night ended the conflict. In 
this engagement three hundred and nineteen 
Americans were killed, and of the British more 



144 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

than five hundred. The victory was too deci- 
sive on the part of the Americans, not to be felt 
in mortification by their enemies generally. 

12. The army of Burgoyne was still distressed 
for the want of provisions, and discouragements 
pressed upon them from other quarters. They 
now made an attempt to retreat to the lakes, but 
General Gates discovered it, and a sudden and 
hot engagement ensued. It was more fierce 
and bloody on both sides than the former. As 
night approached, the enemy began to give way ; 
two hundred of them were made prisoners, and 
night again forced the parties to retire. 

13. Burgoyne, now perceiving the danger to 
which he was exposed, retreated to the heights 
of Saratoga. Gates, placing a suflicient force 
on the east bank of the river to keep him from 
crossing, immediately commenced pursuit. The 
enemy attempted to escape to Fort George, but 
they soon found that there Avas no direction 
which they could take, which was not too pow- 
erfully guarded with strong bodies of militia.-r- 
To retreat was impossible, and they had not suf- 
ficient provision to last them three days. In 
this extremity a council of war was called. 
While they were deliberating, it is said a can- 
non ball, from one of the American field pieces, 
passed across the table around which they were 
sitting. 

14. The council unanimously advised a ne^ 
gotiation with the American general, and accord- 
ingly on the 17th of October, 1777, the whole 
British army, to the number of fiv<j tbousau4 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 145 

seven hundred and fifty-two effective men, was 
surrendered prisoners of war. This splendid 
victory was the occasion of great and universal 
joy throughout the United States. It was an 
event scarcely anticipated by the most sanguine 
friends of freedom, and as little feared by its 
enemies. In the good feelings which it inspired 
in the victors, all thoughts of revenge for the in- 
juries they had suffered were forgotten, and no 
means were neglected for promoting the com- 
fort and happiness of the vanquished, so far as 
this could be done consistently with the circum- 
stances with which they were surrounded. 

15. Let us now return to the army at German, 
town, under Washington, between whom and the 
main body of the enemy stationed at this place, 
a desperate battle was fought, October 4. The 
attack was made by the Americans, and the 
enemy, unable to sustain it, fled in great confu- 
sion. Six of their companies, while retreating, 
made their way into a large stone house, where 
they successfully defended themselves without 
suffering any thing from the repeated efforts of 
the Americans to demolish it. Twelve hundred 
were lost in this action by the Americans, and the 
enemy less than half that number. 

16. The British soon after marched against 
the forces left on the river Delaware below Phi- 
ladelphia. On the 22d of October, twelve hun- 
dred Hessians, under Count Donop, assaulted the 
fortifications at Red Bank, but it was unsuccess- 
ful. He next attacked Fort Mifflin, on Mud 
Island. The garrison sustained the assault with 

10 



146 HI6T0RV OF THE UNITED STATKiJ. 

great spirit and bravery for six days, and they 
then left the fort. 

17. General Washington now concluded to 
withdraw his army to winter quarters, and for 
this purpose he selected a place in the woods on 
the Schuylkill River, fifteen miles above Philadel- 
phia, called Valley Forge. The British took up 
winter quarters in the city of Philadelphia. The 
xVmerican troops were doomed this winter, as 
before, to suffer the horrors of starvation. A 
general destitution of food prevailed through the 
country ; the bills of credit issued by order of 
congress had fallen to one fourth of their origi- 
nal value. And beside, great numbers of the 
army were sick and destitute of clothing ; they 
had no blankets to cover them at night, and their 
feet by day were not defended by shoes from 
the frost and snow. Such were the calamities 
which those endured by whose blood the liber- 
ties and blessings were purchased which we now 
enjoy. 

18, A resolution was passed by congress this 
year, for importing twenty thousand copies of 
the Bible, that thus the people might be supplied 
with the word of God. And according to an- 
other resolution of congress, the 18th of De- 
cember was observed throughout the United 
States as a day of public thanksgiving and 
praise. Thus we have repeatedly seen what a 
sincere regard that venerable body was pleased 
to manifest for the institutions of religion, and 
how frequently they embraced opportunities for 
testifying God's gracious protection and blessing. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 147 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Campaign of 1778 and 1779. 

1. The signal events of the past year raised 
the character and honour of the American cause 
in almost every part of Europe. On the 6th of 
February, Louis XVI., king of France, entered 
into treaties of commerce and amity, and of alli- 
ance with the United States, on terms of perfect 
equality. Among many members of the British 
parliament, however, the success of the Ameri- 
can arms was viewed with very different feel- 
ings ; they were chagrined, disappointed, and 
humbled. They heard the news of the general's 
total defeat y whom they had sent over to subdue 
and conquei' the continent. 

2. The British ministry were now ready to 
repeal the offensive laws, and an act was pass, 
ed by parliament, promising that they would not, 
in future, attempt to tax the colonies ; and com- 
missioners were appointed to communicate with 
congress for the purpose of eflecting a reconci- 
liation. They arrived in June, and sent their 
instructions in to congress. But this body had 
before resolved not to receive any overtures of 
peace from any source, till the independence of the 
states was explicitly acknowledged. In this at- 
tempt, therefore, the commissioners failed. They 
next tried the effect of an offer to bribe a mem- 
ber of congress. To Joseph Reed an offer was 
made of ten thousand pounds sterling, in case he 
would use his efforts to bring about a union by 



148 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

any means. *' I am not v;orth purchasing," re- 
plied this worthy man, "but such as I am, the 
king of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it." 

3. On receiving the intelhgence of the alHance 
which France had made with the United States, 
Great Britain declared war against that nation ; 
and it was ordered that the British forces should 
immediately evacuate Philadelphia, and take 
possession of New-York ; and for this place they 
commenced their march on June the 18th. — 
General Washington having been made acquaint, 
ed with their design, prepared to follow and at- 
tack them. They were overtaken in Monmouth, 
N. J., and a sharp conflict ensued. The battle 
was continued till dark, and Washington and 
his men reposed in the field upon their arms, in- 
tending to renew the attack in the morning : but 
when day light appeared, the British general 
had fled with his army for New-York. The day 
on which this battle was fought was excessively 
hot, and the suffering of the poor soldiers through 
the heat was immense ; the tongues of many 
were so swollen that they could not retain them 
within the mouth, and about sixty of the British 
army died without a wound, from this cause 
alone. Their loss in killed and w ounded amount- 
ed to three hundred and fifty-eight ; one hundred 
were taken prisoners, and one thousand desert- 
ed during their march. The loss of the Ameri- 
cans was sixty men killed, and one hundred and 
sixty wounded. 

4. On the first of July a French fleet arrived 
at Newport, under the command of Count D'FiS- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 149 

taing, with four thousand French troops. Rhode 
Island had been in possession of the British since 
177(3, and a combined attack upon the enemy 
at this place was now determined upon. The 
British army at Newport amounted to about six 
thousand men, and was commanded by Sir R. 
Pigot ; the American army under General Sul- 
livan was posted in the vicinity of Providence, 
and amounted to ten thousand. On the 9th of 
August General Sullivan proceeded to the north 
end of Rhode Island,* and prepared for the con- 
templated engagement. In the meanwhile Gen. 
Howe, having received information of the intend- 
ed expedition, appeared with his fleet in sight 
of Rhode Island, soon after the French fleet had 
entered the harbour of Nev/port. 

5. The French commander, instead of co- 
operating with the Americans as he agreed to, 
sailed out of (he harbour immediately, in order 
to attack the English fleet ; but while they were 
preparing for battle a severe storm arose and 
scattered them apart, and both fleets finally made 
back for the ports from which they had sailed : 
D'Estaing to Newport, and Howe for New-York. 
On the arrival of the French fleet again, the 
Americans congratulated themselves on the 
prospect of a speedy conquest, and they were 
greatly afflicted when they found the French 
commander utterly refused to tarry for an attack 
upon the enemy, but immediately sailed for 
Boston. 

6. General Sullivan, finding himself deserted 
* An island belonging to the state of this name. 



.150 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

by the allies, upon whose aid so much dependence 
had been placed, now concluded to raise the 
siege. He was immediately pursued by the 
enemy and attacked. The Americans resisted 
with great bravery ; they lost two hundred and 
eleven of their men, while the British lost 
two hundred and sixty. The next day Sullivan 
was informed of an expected reinforcement to 
the enemy's lines, and in the following night he 
conducted the American army safely over the 
main land. They had scarcely effected their 
retreat when four thousand men were added to 
the British forces. 

7. About this time an attempt was made by the 
enemy to reduce the state of Georgia. Two 
bodies of armed men proceeded from East 
Florida, one to Savannah, and the other to Fort 
Sunbury. When the enemy arrived within a 
short distance from the latter place, they sent a 
summons to the fort to surrender, but they did 
not comply with the pithy answer which Colonel 
M'Intosh returned to this message, which was, 
" Come and take it." The other party were 
frustrated also in their attempts upon Savannah ; 
they were met by a company of militia, with whom 
they had frequent skirmishes. They finally con- 
cluded to return, and on their way they burned 
the church and almost every dwelling house at 
Medvvay ; they also destroyed all the grain which 
they found in the way, and carried off the cattle 
and valuable goods belonging to the people. 

8. It would fill a volume to describe the 
depredations, like the above, which were com. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 151 

mitted in many places during this year, by 
the British soldiers, upon the unoffending in- 
habitants of the states. And in the perpetration 
of many shocking barbarities, the British were 
often aided by the tories, such of the citizens as 
favoured the cause of Great Britain, and opposed 
a separation of the colonies from that government. 
They often made sudden and unexpected as- 
saults upon peaceful and quiet neighbourhoods 
of people, destroyed their cattle and fields of grain, 
consumed their dwelhngs, and took possession 
of their goods, 

9. Wyoming, in Pennsylvania, was attacked 
in this way. The men were inhumanly butch- 
ered, and scores were left widows and orphans, 
without houses, or homes, or food. In Fair 
Haven, New-Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, simi- 
lar spoliations were committed. 

Cornwallis, hearing that Colonel Baylor with 
his regiment had crossed the Hackinsack, on the 
27th of September, and taken quarters at Tap- 
pan, sent a party under General Gray to cut 
them off. They were discovered while asleep 
in a barn. Gray directed his soldiers to kill 
them with their bayonets, and afford them no 
quarter, which command was obeyed with the 
most ferocious and unrelenting cruelty. Sixty- 
seven out of one hundred and four privates 
were killed, wounded, and taken. Many were 
stabbed repeatedly, as long as any sign of life 
remained, even when the unhappy sufferers 
supplicated for pity in cries which might have 
melted hearts of adamant. 



152 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

10. A successful expedition was planned and 
executed in November of this year, against 
Savannah, the capital of the state of Georgia. 
Tiiis enterprise was conducted by Col. Camp- 
bell, with about two thousand troops. On their 
approach to Savannah they were opposed by the 
American commander at that place, General 
Howe, with an army of only six or seven hun- 
dred men, till resistance became vain. More 
than one hundred Americans were killed, thirty 
eight officers, and four hundred and fifteen pri- 
vates fell into the hands of the British, together 
with the capitol and the military stores which 
it contaitied. 

11. While the above siege was pending, an 
event occurred, which was conducted by one of 
the Georgia line, of so extraordinary a cha- 
racter that it may be proper to narrate it briefly 
here. About twenty. five miles from Savannah, 
on the Ogeeche River, there was posted a com- 
pany of one hundred British troops, under the 
command of a Captain French. Five armed ves- 
sels lay also at the same place, the largest of 
which carried fourteen guns, and had on board 
forly-one men. The bold project of taking these 
enemies by surprise was formed by Colonel John 
White. He accordingly took with him five men 
for this purpose ; Colonel Etholm, three privates, 
and his own servant. On the night of September 
30th, they kindled a number of fires in such 
a form as to represent a large camp not far 
from the enemy's, and when Colonel White pro- 
ceeded to summon them to surrender, his other 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 153 

men were riding about, and in a loud voice 
giving various commands as if to a large army 
gathered in the vicinity. The stratagem pre- 
vailed : the British commander, not doubling 
but a superior force were just ready to attack 
liim and cut his army to pieces, surrendered his 
troops together wiih the crews and vessels into 
the hands of Colonel White. 

12. But White had now, if possible, a still 
more diilicult part to perform ; this was to carry 
on the deception, and secure the prisoners. So 
he pretended that his troops were exceedingly 
exasperated against the British, and were so 
earnest to satisfy their rage against their ene- 
mies, that it would be extremely unsafe for the 
two parties to be brought in contact ; and hence 
he proposed that three guides merely should ac- 
company them to a place of safety. To this 
humane proposal French very gratefully acceded ; 
nor were his eyes opened to the deception till he 
had been conducted to an American fort, a dis- 
tance of twenty-five miles. 

13. During the year of 1779 no very import- 
ant campaign was executed either by America 
or Great Britain. To conquer America was 
now pretty generally believed to be impossible, 
even by her bitterest enemies. Hence, in their 
plans, but little else seems to have been contem- 
plated beside harassing the people, and plunder- 
ing their property. 

Accordingl3% an expedition was fitted out 
from New-York against Virginia, consisting of 
a naval and land force, under the command of 



154 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Sir G. Collier and General Mathews. They 
took possession of Portsmouth and of Norfolk, 
destroyed the vessels, houses, naval stores, and 
a large magazine of provisions at Suffolk ; and 
after committing other depredations in various 
places, they returned to New-York. 

14. Another excursion of this kind was un- 
dertaken by Governor Tryon against the soutli- 
ern part of Connecticut, with two thousand six 
hundred land forces, and accompanied with Sir 
G. Collier with a number of armed vessels. On 
the morning of the 5th of July, the fleet, which 
amounted to forty sail, anchored off West Haven, 
and a detachment of one thousand troops imme- 
diately landed at this place. They were checked 
at first in their march by a few of the citizens ; 
but as there was no armed force stationed at this 
place, they proceeded to ravage and plunder the 
town indiscriminately. At the same time Go- 
vernor Tryon landed with another thousand 
troops in East Haven. These two detachments 
soon after effected a junction, and proceeded in 
their work of destroying the houses and properly 
that fell in their way. 

15. The following are a few items from the 
accounts which have been preserved of what 
they did. In New. Haven, an aged man, who 
had a natural defect in his speech, had his 
tongue cut out. At Fairfield, the dwelling 
houses were entered, and the desks, chests, d:c, 
of the inhabitants were opened and plundered 
of their contents. And in this town no less 
than eighty-five dwelling houses, two churches, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 155 

a handsome court house, fifteen shops, fifteen 
stores, fifty.five barns, and several school houses, 
were burned. At Norvvalk, they burned eighty 
dweUing houses, two churches, eighty-seven 
barns, seventeen shops, four mills, and five ves- 
sels ; and the property of the citizens in other 
places shared a similar fate. 

16. But an opportunity was afforded the 
Americans of returning vengeance for these 
atrocities, had they been disposed to do so, 
before the perpetrators left the region where 
they had been committed. A fortress on the 
North River, called Stony Point, had been 
wrested from the Americans, and strongly for- 
tified by a British garrison of six hundred men, 
under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John- 
son, and every necessary preparation had been 
made for its defence. A detachment was com- 
mitted to General Wayne for its reduction. 
About noon on July 15th he commenced his 
march, through swamps and morasses, and over 
mountains, and at eight o'clock in the evening 
they arrived within about a mile of the fort; 
when they halted, and prepared for the assault. 

17. Tlie men were formed into two columns, 
and ordered to march with unloaded muskets 
and fixed bayonets. They arrived under the 
walls of the fort about twelve at night. And 
now, under a tremendous fire of musketry and 
grape shot from the cannon of the fort, they had 
to make their way over a deep morass, over- 
flowed at this time too with the tide. But the 
assailants rushed forward, scaled the walls, and 



156 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

took possession of the fort. Not a blow was 
struck after the British surrendered. The 
killed and wounded of the Americans amounted 
to ninety-eight; the killed of the garrison to 
sixty-three. Five hundred and forty-three pri- 
soners, and a considerable quantity of military 
stores, fell into the hands of the Americans, 
beside two flags, two standards, and fifteen 
pieces of ordnance. 

18. Many tribes of Indians at the south and 
west had been hired by the British government 
to engage with them in their war with the 
Americans ; and they had accordingly invaded 
a number of places, spreading death and devasta- 
tion every where they went. Hence, in August 
of this year, an expedition was ordered to pro- 
ceed against them. 

General Sullivan, at the head of more than 
four thousand men, marched into their country, 
and attacked them in the works which they had 
prepared for their defence. Their resistance 
was savage and warlike, till finally they gave 
way, and fled into the woods. The conquerors 
then laid waste their country, as they had done 
Wyoming ; forty villages were destroyed, beside 
fruit trees and grain ; a work of destruction 
which they demerited, perhaps, and which was 
certainly necessary for the future security of the 
whites. 

19. A number of other expeditions v/ere 
executed against the Indians this year, and gene- 
rally with success. A most severe and bloody 
naval battle was fought in September, on the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 157 

coast of Scotland, between the Bon Homme 
Richard, John Paul Jones, commander, and the 
Serapis, a British frigate ; tiie former carrying 
forty guns, and the latter forty-four. Jones was 
a Scotchman by birth ; but by the American 
congress had received a captain's commission in 
the United States' nav}-, and a squadron com- 
mitted to his charge, fitted out of one of the 
French ports. When the action had continued 
about one hour, the vessels were driven in 
contact, and Jones immediately lashed them 
together. 

20. The work of death now became dreadful 
beyond description. Ten or twelve times the 
Serapis was on fire, and frequently both frigates 
were in a blaze at the same time. Finally, one 
of Jones's squadron came to his assistance, and 
the enemy surrendered. At this time the Bon 
Homme Richard was so shattered, that she was 
sinking; and the victorious crew hastened on 
board the Serapis to save their lives. An- 
other of Jones's squadron engaged, and con- 
quered the Countess of Scarborough about the 
same time. 

21. At the close of this campaign, the army 
at the north retired for winter quarters to a 
place near Morristown, N. J., and another near 
West Point. As before, the American troops 
endured a scene of sufferings and hardships 
this winter, almost incredible in the annals 
of war. Often without less than half their 
allowance of food, and once with none at all, 
and a miserable supply of clothing, might 



158 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATE8. 

have produced any other feeUngs than those of 
the patriotism and unwavering affection, which 
many of these soldiers manifested for the cause 
in which they were engaged. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Campaign of 1780. 

1. Toward the close of the last year, an ex- 
pedition had been planned and undertaken by 
Sir H. CUnton, against Charleston, S. C. He 
embarked with a force of between seven and 
eight thousand men, and after encountering a 
severe gale, appeared before this place in Feb. 
ruary. The assembly of the state was then in 
session, and for the defence of the capital, in that 
emergency, they delegated to Governor Rutledge 
and his council, the power to do every thing ne- 
cessary for the public good, except taking away 
the life of any citizen. The call which he made 
on the citizens to rally to the defence of their 
capital was not very promptly obeyed. 

2. Gen. Lincoln, who commanded the Ameri- 
can forces at the south, was urged by the inha- 
bitants of Charleston to stay there, and with the 
army under his command, which now amounted 
to seven thousand, to defend the place. By 
the first of April, the number of the enemy 
amounted to as many as nine thousand. The 
siege was now commenced by the erection of 
works but a short distance from the city. The 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 159 

Britisli fleet soon after gained entire control of 
the harbour, and a body of Americans were sur- 
prised and taken at Monk's Corner. The bat. 
teries of the enemy kept up a continual fire up- 
on the besieged, till they found themselves unable 
to resist them to any good purpose. 

3. An offer to capitulate was now agreed 
upon, but General Clinton refused to accept it ; 
the enemy then made other proposals, but these 
were rejected by General Lincoln, whereupon 
the siege was renewed with increased severity. 
But the farther defence of the place was found 
to be useless, and on the request of a number 
of the inhabitants, terms of capitulation were 
offered again by General Lincoln, and which 
being accepted, the whole of the American force, 
amounting to five thousand men, together with 
the city and its munitions of war, fell into the 
hands of the British. 

4. After the surrender of Charleston, Gene- 
ral Clinton made three detachments from his 
army, and posted them in different parts of the 
state, for the purpose of frightening the inhabit- 
ants into submission again to the British crown. 
A party of two thousand men were directed to- 
ward North Carohna, to repel some of the mili- 
tia who were marching to the relief of Charles, 
ton. Colonel Buford, with four hundred men, 
was most cruelly assaulted near the borders of 
North Carolina, by a superior force of cavalry 
and light infantry, and his men inhumanly cut to 
pieces after they had surrendered. One hun- 
dred and thirteen were killed on the spot, and 



160 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

one hundred and fifty so shockingly wounded, 
as to be incapable of being removed from the 
field. 

5. These cruelties but disaffected many against 
the cause of Great Britain, who otherwise, per- 
haps, would scarcely have attempted any resist, 
ance to her encroacbments. Hence, like many 
of their brethren at the north, they determined 
to die or be free. Parties were formed in many 
places, and a resistance made against the forces 
of the enemy, which, in a number of instances, 
was crowned with encouraging success. 

Gen. Lincoln having been superseded. Gene- 
ral Gates now marched to the relief of the south, 
with an army of four thousand men. He soon 
found the enemy ready to meet him. Lord 
Corn wall is took charge of two thousand troops, 
who had been stationed at Camden, and hasten- 
ed to attack the Americans in their camp at 
Clermont. The Americans at the same time had 
commenced their march toward Camden. Some 
of the advance parties of both armies met in the 
night, and in several skirmishes which took 
place the Americans were defeated, and this 
circumstance, probably, served as much as any 
thing the next day to turn the battle against them 
entirely. 

6. On the morning of August 16th, a general 
action ensued. At the first attack, the Virginia 
militia disgracefully threw down their arms and 
fled from the field, and others soon after follow- 
ed. But the continental troops, though few in 
number, and forsaken by their comrades, main* 



HISTORY or THE UNITED STATES. 161 

tained the ground against the superior number 
of their foes, with unyielding valour and firmness, 
till finally they were overpowered and compelled 
to flee. The Americans lost in this battle be- 
tween six and seven hundred killed, and more 
than one thousand three hundred wounded and 
taken prisoners. The loss of the British in kill- 
ed did not exceed four hundred. 

7. A number of other engagements took place 
about this time, in which, however, nothing was 
gained to the cause of freedom, till the battle at 
Broad River. General Sumpter, a brave and 
successful officer in the American service, with 
a small body of volunteers, was attacked at this 
place, by a company of infantry and dragoons, 
under Major Wemys. But the enemy was re- 
pulsed, and their commander taken prisoner. A 
few days afterward he was attacked again at 
Blackstocks, by a party of one hundred and 
fifty of the enemy, but without success, as the 
British were forced to retreat with considerable 
loss. 

8. In June an attempt was made upon New- 
Jersey. Five thousand men. under the conmiand 
of General Knyphausen, landed at Elizabethtown, 
and proceeded to Springfield. In their way 
they burned about thirteen houses ajid one church. 
As they drew near the town they were opposed 
by a few troops and militia under Colonel Dray- 
ton and General Maxwell, when they halted, and 
commenced a retrograde march to Elizabethtown. 
In the meantime they were joined by a reinforce- 
ment of troops from Charleston, and the who]© 

U 



162 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

body under General Clinton marched the second 
time toward Springfield. They were met and 
opposed by General Greene and Colonel Angel 
with the American forces under their command. 
A severe action was fought, and the Americans 
were compelled to retire, having lost about eigh 
teen men killed, but the loss of the British was 
supposed to be considerably more. 

9. The army at the north, which, as has been 
stated before, was posted at Morristown, and 
West Point, did little more this year than to 
watch the movements of the enemy stationed at 
New-York, and afford the inhabitants defence 
against their depredations. But during this time 
of their inactivity, distress and poverty prevailed 
to an alarming extent among them. The cold, 
during the winter, was more severe than it ever 
had been known before, and Washington often 
had to combat the necessity which seemed to 
urge the propriety of breaking up the encamp, 
ment. 

10. And calamities also prevailed through the 
country, from the depreciation of the paper cur- 
rency, an evil which congress had not antici- 
pated, and one which it now had no means to 
resist. Yet in the midst of the general gloom 
which seemed to cover the nation, there appear- 
ed no disposition on the part of congress or any 
of the state governments to yield the contest ; 
one spirit of union and perseverance seemed to 
lift them above fear, and inspire them with a 
courage raid resolution which assured the most 
skeptical of their final success. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 163 

11. We have had occasion for noticing a num- 
ber of times in the course of this history the bra- 
very and valour of Col. Benedict Arnold, whose 
devotion to the cause of liberty by this time 
had gained for him no small degree of affec- 
tionate regard among the American people ; 
but we now have to present him in a different 
point of view. He was appointed to the com- 
mand of Philadelphia when the British evacuated 
that city in 1778. To clear himself from 
debts which he had extravagantly contracted, 
he brought a number of large claims against the 
American government, but they were partially 
rejected. He was finally accused, tried, and 
condemned by a court martial for extortion and 
abuse of the public funds. 

12. His pride was now wounded, and he 
determined on revenge. He solicited and ob- 
tained the command of West Point, the most 
important post in the possession of the whole 
American forces. To gratify the dastardly and 
wicked principle which had now taken posses- 
sion of his heart, he took measures for delivering 
this fort into the hands of the enemy. Accord- 
ingly a correspondence with Sir H. Clinton 
was opened, and Major Andre, an accomplished 
young man in the British army, was sent in a 
sloop of war up the North River, as near as 
possible to the fort, for the purpose of holding an 
interview with Arnold, and arranging the plan 
for taking the fort. 

13. But before this plan was completely ar- 
ranged, the sloop which brought Andre was 



164 HISTORY or THE UNITED STATES. 

compelled to move down the river, and he was 
under the necessity of returning to New-York 
by land. For this purpose Arnold gave him a 
passport, and having exchanged his military 
dress for a quaker's coat, he set off under the 
assumed name of Anderson. He passed all the 
guards and outposts without exciting suspicion ; 
but on his arrival at Tarrytown, within thirty 
miles of New-York, he was met by three sol- 
diers, and not supposing that they were Ameri- 
cans, he frankly declared himself a British 
officer. 

14. On discovering his mistake, he offered 
them a valuable watch, and a considerable quan- 
tity of gold which he had in his possession, 
if they would release him. But these worthy 
men rejected tlie bribes which he offered, in 
disdain, and immediately conducted him to their 
commanding officer, Colonel Jameson. In the 
meantime Arnold obtaining intelligence of his 
capture, immediately escaped on board the sloop 
of war and fled to New-York, where he received 
as the reward of his disgraceful treachery the 
sum of ten thousand pounds, and the rank of 
brigadier general in the British army. 

15. Just at this time Washington hap- 
pened to arrive at West Point, while on his way 
from Connecticut to head quarters. He imme- 
diately took measures for insuring the safety 
of the fort, and appointed a board to investigate 
and decide on the case of Major Andre. He 
appeared before the board, and ingenuously con- 
fessed every thing relating to himself, whereupon 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 165 

they decided that according to the laws and 
usages of nations he ought to sufier death. 
The sentence was accordingly executed on the 
2d of October. 

16. At the close of this year the northern 
army retired to the winter quarters which they 
had occupied before, and where they again en. 
dured privations and distresses, at the bare 
thought of which every true American must 
feel indignant ; and mutiny now crowned the 
calamities that had gone before. The whole 
line of Pennsylvania troops stationed at Morris, 
town, to the number of thirteen hundred, on the 
night of the first of January, 1781, paraded, un- 
der arms, and avowed their intention of march- 
ing to Philadelphia, and demanding of congress 
a redress of their grievances. They complained 
that in addition to the poverty and want which 
they had suffered in common with the others, 
they were retained in service longer than the 
time for which they enlisted, and evinced their 
determination not to be put off from the exe- 
cution of the plan which they had formed. 

17. After electing temporary officers, they 
marched off in a body toward Princeton. 
When they had arrived at this place, three em- 
missaries from Sir H. Clinton met them, and 
made liberal offers to induce them to forsake the 
service of congress ; but the offers were re- 
fused with indignity, and those who made them 
seized and confined as spies. 

The complaints of these sufferers were found- 
ed in justice, and accordingly, as soon as even a 



166 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

part of their demands was granted, they very 
wilHngly returned to their duty. This mutiny, 
and another which broke out in the Jersey hne, 
aroused the attention of the nation, and effi- 
cient measures were immediately taken by con- 
gress to afford a better supply for the wants of 
such as had so faithfully toiled and suffered in the 
defence of their country. 

18. A constitution was formed and adopted in 
the state of Massachusetts this year, to which was 
prefixed a bill of rights, by which slavery was abo- 
lished throughout the state. The first article of 
this bill declares that " all men are born free and 
equal." The general assembly of Pennsylvania, 
also passed an act about tlie same time, declar- 
ing, that no persons, whether negroes or mulat- 
toes, who might be born in that state, afler the 
passing of that act, should be deemed and con- 
sidered as servants for life, or slaves ; and all 
servitude for life, or slavery of children, in con- 
sequence of the slavery of their mothers, in the 
case of all children born within the state, was 
extinguished and abolished for ever. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Campaign of 1781 — and close of the war. 

1. The southern army, which consisted of 
about two thousand men under General Greene, 
was crowned with considerable success in the 
beginning of this year, in the defence of the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 167 

posts assigned them. An invasion of North 
CaroHna was contemplated by CornwaUis, and 
to meet the encroachments of the enemy in that 
quarter, General Greene divided the army, and 
directed General Morgan with a considerable 
detachment to the western extremity of South 
Carolina. Lord CornwaUis was now nearly 
ready to commence the invasion of North Caro- 
hna, and fearing he might be followed by Greene, 
in case he should attempt this, he ordered Col. 
Tarleton, with about one thousand one hundred 
men, " to push him to the utmost." 

2. Morgan at first hesitated whether it were 
prudent to engage a superior force, when there 
was so little prospect of victory, and hence he 
began on the first attack of the enemy to retreat. 
But he soon halted at the Cowpens, near Paco- 
let River, and on the 17th of January engaged 
his pursuers with complete success. He ar- 
ranged his men in two lines, and ordered the 
militia posted in front to yield, and give way soon 
after the first assault of the British, for the pur- 
pose of drawing the enemy's forces into confusion 
in the pursuit. They were led on to the attack 
by Tarleton himself, and with a loud shout they 
commenced an incessant fire of musketry. The 
militia withstood the charge with firmness for a 
few moments, and then retreated, as they were 
ordered previously by Morgan. The enemy 
immediately supposed the fate of the day decided, 
and commenced the pursuit in great disorder. 

3. At this moment the American infantry, 
facing about, poured upon the enemy a most 



168 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

deadly fire: this increased their confusion, till 
they were so closely charged and pressed with 
the bayonet, that in a few moments one hun- 
dred of the enemy were killed, and five hundred 
made prisoners. The victory was most signal 
and glorious, as much so, perhaps, as any 
achieved during the revolutionary war. No less 
than eight hundred muskets, two field pieces, two 
standards, thirty-five baggage wagons, and one 
hundred horses, fell into the hands of the victors. 
And yet Morgan's force scarcely amounted to 
five hundred, and these chiefly militia, while 
Tarleton's army more than doubled this number, 
and it was selected from the very best of the 
British troops. 

4. The event of the above engagement ex- 
tremely surprised and mortified Cornwaliis, and 
he immediately resolved to pursue Morgan, and 
retake the prisoners. General Greene suspect- 
ing this attempt on the part of the enemy, 
hastened with his army to join Morgan, which 
he did, after a most distressing march, at Guil- 
ford court house. In this retreat the Americans 
endured incredible hardships, and with a forti- 
tude truly astonishing. They were often destitute 
of provisions, and many of them, without shoes, 
marked every step they took upon the frozen 
ground with their blood. After pursuing Greene 
with unwearied diligence for some weeks, Corn- 
waliis turned and marched to Hillsborough, 
where he erected the royal standard, and invited 
the loyalists to join him. 

5. The armv of General Greene had now 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 169 

been augmented to more than four thousand men, 
of which, however, more than one half were 
militia : he concluded to offer a battle with the 
enemy. The forces met at Guilford court house 
on the 8th of March. This engagement finally- 
turned in favour of the British, but the loss on 
both sides was about equal. 

General Greene, having made a detachment 
of his army under General Lee, on another ex- 
pedition, the next April marched against Lord 
Ravvdon, who was posted with nine hundred men 
at Camden. On the 25th the armies met, and 
in the first of the engagement victory seemed to 
turn in favour of the Americans, but finally, 
through the cowardice of one of the regiments, 
General Greene found it necessary to retreat. 
The Americans lost, in this battle, two hundred 
and sixty. eight, in killed, wounded, and missing ; 
that of the British was about the same. 

6. This defeat was soon after counterbalanced 
by the surrender of Orangeburg, with seventy 
British militia, and twelve regulars, into the 
hands of the brave General Sumpter ; also by 
the capture of Fort Moth and one hundred and 
sixty-five men ; and Fort Ganby was taken about 
the same time by General Lee, with the garri- 
son, consisting of three hundred and fifty-two 
men. And immediately after this victory, Colo- 
nel Lee marched to Augusta, and joined Gene- 
ral Pickens in an attempt to reduce Fort Corn- 
vvallis. The garrison, consisting of about three 
hundred men, surrendered on honourable terms 
of capitulation. 



170 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

7. The next battle of consequence, and the 
one which nearly finished the war in South Ca. 
rolina, was fought on September 8th, at the 
Eutaw Springs. Tlie British amounted to about 
two thousand men, under Colonel Stewart, and 
the Americans had about the same number. — 
This engagement was as desperate and bloody, 
perhaps, as any which had occurred during the 
war. The British lost, including prisoners, not 
less than one thousand one hundred men ; that 
of the Americans was five hundred and fifty-five, 
including the killed, wounded, and missing. 

8. A plan for the whole campaign during this 
year had been fixed on by General Washington, 
in consultation with a number of ofiicers, at 
Weathersfield, Conn., in May. Circumstances, 
however, induced Washington to change this 
plan before he found an opportunity for executing 
the chief part of it. He now directed his atten- 
tion to the movements of Cornwallis, who had 
retired to Yorktown, a small village on the south 
side of York River, which place he had fortified. 
Washington's army arrived at Williamsburg, then 
the head quarters of the Marquis de la Fayette, 
September 25th. 

9. The whole of the allied forces now amount, 
ed to sixteen thousand men, who were furnished 
with every facility for prosecuting the siege with 
every hope of success. The Count de Grasse, 
with his fleet of twenty-eight sail, proceeded up 
to the mouth of York River, to prevent Corn- 
wallis from retreating or receivijig snp|)lies. On 
the 9th and 10th of October, the French and 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 171 

Americans opened their batteries with cool and 
determined vigour. A firmness of purpose now 
seemed to animate the American commander 
and his troops, which promised a sure reward. 
The siege was pressed with increasing ardour 
during each succeeding day, till the 19th, when 
Cornwallis surrendered his whole army, amount- 
ing to more than seven thousand men, beside 
six commissioned and twenty-eight non-commis- 
sioned oflicers. 

10. This important victory may be consider- 
ed as virtually closing the scene of the revolu- 
tionary war. It was an event which was hailed 
with the sincerest joy by every friend of Ameri- 
can freedom throughout the world. 

To promote the general joy, and to acknow- 
ledge their dependence on the Divine Disposer 
of events, General Washington ordered that 
those who were under arrest should be pardoned 
and set at liberty, and that Divine service should 
be performed the next day in. the ditlerent bri- 
gades and divisions. He recommended that all 
the troops who were not upon duty, should en- 
gage in the solemnities of that occasion with 
that serious deportment and sensibility of heart, 
which the surprising and particular interposition 
of Divine Providence claimed at such a time. 
Congress also resolved to proceed in solemn pro- 
cession to the house of God, to return public 
thanks for the success with which the allied ar- 
mies had been crowned ; and a proclamation was 
issued also, appointing the 13th of December as 
a day of thanksgiving and prayer tor the nation. 



172 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

11. While the American army was absent at 
the south, and engaged in the siege of Yorktovvn, 
Sir H. Clinton despatched Arnold, the traitor ^ 
with a strong detachment, against New-London, 
a small but flourishing city on the river Thames, 
in Connecticut, his native state. Fort Trumbull 
surrendered with but little or no resistance. — 
This was situated on the west side of the river, 
and below the city. Fort Grisvvold, on the east 
side of the river, and opposite the city, was 
next assaulted on three sides at the same mo- 
ment. It was defended by a garrison of only 
one hundred and sixty men, under Colonel Led. 
yard, and with a valour and heroism which 
should be had in everlasting remembrance. — 
The enemy finally entered the fort against the 
well-directed and destructive fire of the Ameri- 
cans. An officer of the assailants inquired, 
" Who commands this fort ?" To which the 
gallant Ledyard answered, " I did, but you do 
now ;" and at the same time presenting the hill 
of his sword in token of his submission. The 
dastardly officer immediately seized it and plung- 
ed it through the body of Ledyard ; upon which 
a general and indiscriminate massacre ensued ; 
and although the Americans had ceased to resist, 
yet the greater part of the garrison were inhu- 
manly murdered and cut to peices. The town 
of New-London was reduced to ashes, and Ar- 
nold, having accomplished the object of the ex- 
pedition, returned to New-York. 

12. The capture of a second entire British 
army in America, affected essentially the mea. 



HISTORY OF THE U^'ITEU STATES. 173 

sures of the British ministry, and annihilated all 
hope, which the enemies of American freedom 
had entertained of subjugating the states ever 
again to the dominion of Great Britain. During 
the spring of 1782, a number of motions were 
made in the British parliament for closing the 
war, and on the 12tli of March the house of 
commons resolved, " that the house would con- 
sider as enemies to his majesty, and to the 
country, all those who should advise, or attempt, 
the farther prosecution of ofiensive war on the 
continent of North America." 

13. Commissioners for negotiating peace 
were soon after appointed, both on the part of 
Great Britain and the United States' congress: 
Mr. Fitzherbert and Mr. Oswold for the former, 
and on the part of the latter, John Adams, Ben- 
jamin Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens. 
On November 30, 1782, these commissioners 
signed provisional articles of peace at Paris, 
which were to form the basis of a future definite 
treaty of peace between the United States and 
Great Britain, as soon as peace should take 
place between Great Britain and France. That 
event took place on the 3d of September, 1783, 
and on the same day a definite treaty of peace 
was also signed between Great Brtiain and the 
United States. 

14. While the above measures were in pro- 
gress, the American troops were retained in 
service, but they remained unemployed at their 
several stations, as hostilities had actually ceased 
between the two nations from the beginning 



174 HISTORY or THE UNITED STATES. 

of 1783. Oil the 19th of April peace was for. 
mally proclaimed through the army, by the 
commander in chief, just eight years from the 
day when the first blood was spilled in the cause 
of freedom at Lexington, Mass. 

15. On the 8th of June following, General 
Washington addressed a letter to each of the 
governors of the several states in the union, in 
which he pressed upon their attention those 
things which he believed most concerned them, 
and the people over which they were appointed 
to preside. " An indissoluble union of the states," 
says that worthy patriot, "under one general 
head ; a sacred regard to public justice ; the 
adoption of a proper peace establishment, and 
the prevalence of that pacific and friendly dis- 
position among the people of the United States, 
which will induce them to forget their local 
prejudices and politics, to make those mutual 
concessions, which are requisite to the general 
prosperity; and, in some instances, to sacrifice 
their individual advantages to the interest of the 
community ; — these are the pillars on which 
the glorious fabric of our independence and na- 
tional character must be supported." 

16. And after expressing his desire that each 
governor would communicate these sentiments 
to his legislature at its next session, this truly 
Christian hero adds, " I now make it my earnest 
prayer, that God would have you, and the state 
over which you preside, in his holy protection ; 
that he would incline the hearts of the citizens 
to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 175 

to government ; to entertain a brotherly affec- 
tion and love for one another, for their fellow 
citizens of the United States at large, and par- 
ticularly for their brethren who have served in 
the field ; and, finally, that he would most gra- 
ciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, 
to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with 
that charity, humility, and pacific temper of 
mind, which were the Divine characteristics of 
the Divine Author of our blessed religion ; 
without an humble imitation of whose example 
in these things, we can never hope to be a happy 
nation." 

17. The 3d day of November was fixed on 
by congress as the period for disbanding the 
army of the United States ; and on the previous 
day Washington issued his farewell orders, in 
which he expressed his affectionate solicitude 
for his companions in arms, who had fought and 
bled by his side in the field of battle. This 
paternal and affectionate address he concluded 
in the following affecting words : — " Being now 
about to conclude these his last public orders, 
to take his leave in a short time of the military 
character, and to bid a final adieu to the armies 
he has so long had the honour to command, he 
can only offer again in their behalf his recom- 
mendations to their grateful country, and his 
prayers to the God of armies. 

18. " May ample justice be done them here, 
and may the choicest favour, both here and 
hereafter, attend those, who, under the Divine 
auspices, have secured innumerable blessings 



176 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

for others ! With these wishes, and this bene- 
diction, the commander-in-chief is abont to 
retire from service. The curtain of separation 
will soon be drawn, and the mihtary scene, to 
him, will be closed for ever." 

Soon after taking the above leave of the army, 
General Washington took an affectionate leave 
of his officers, who had assembled for this pur- 
pose in the city of New-York. He shook each 
by the hand, and thus addressed them : — " With 
a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take my 
leave of you. I most devoutly wish, that your 
latter days may be as prosperous and happy, 
as your tbrmer ones have been glorious and 
honourable." 

19. He immediately repaired to Annapolis, 
where congress v.as then in session, and on the 
23d of December, in the presence of that body, 
he resigned to them his commission as com. 
mander-in-chief of the American armies. After 
having adverted to the accomplishment of his 
wishes in the independence of his country, and 
commended his officers and soldiers to the par. 
ticular attention of congress, he concluded as 
follows : — " I consider it an indispensable duty 
to close the last solemn act of my official life, 
by commending the interests of oiu" dearest 
country to the protection of almighty God, and 
those who have the superintendence of them to 
his holy keephig. 

20. " Having now finished the work assigned 
me, I retire from the great theatre of action ; 
and, bidding an afTectionate farev/ell to this 



HISTOHY OF THE UMTED STATES. 177 

august body, under whose orders I have long 
acted, I here offer my commission, and take 
my leave of all the employments of public life." 
Upon which congress, through their president, 
addressed this illustrious man, in glowing terms 
of commendation : — " We join you," said Pre- 
sident Mifflin, " in commending the interests of 
our dearest country to the protection of almighty 
God ; beseeching Him to dispose the hearts and 
minds of its citizens to improve the opportunity 
afforded them of becoming a happy and respect- 
able nation ; and for you, we address to Him 
our earnest prayers, that a life so beloved, may 
be fostered with all His care ; that your days 
may be as happy as they have been illustrious ; 
and that He will finally give you that reward 
which this world cannot give." 



CHAPTER XXL 

Formation and adoption of the federal constitution 
— Inauguration of George Washington as president 
of the United States. 

1, In the preceding chapters we have gone 
over some of the most interesting events ever 
recorded on the pages of history. From a few 
feeble colonies, we have seen these United 
States rising into existence, and defending them- 
selves from the cruel encroacimients of a power- 
ful foe. Witiiout a regular government, without 
an army, and destitute of every means necessary 
for self defence, we have seen them embarrassed 
12 



178 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

with poverty and want in every direction, and }et 
they carried on a successful war with a superior 
and vindictive enemy. To secure the blessings 
of freedom and independence to tliemselves and 
posterity, we have seen them braving every dan- 
ger, foregoing every comfort, and finally sur- 
mounting every difficulty, till they became a free 
and independent nation. 

2. But now their independence was acknow- 
ledged by Great Britain and other European 
powers : there were evils, however, in which 
they were still involved, from Avhich no measures 
hitherto adopted by congress were found suffi- 
cient to dehver them. Public and private debts 
had been contracted during a long and tedious 
war, which bore heavily upon the people after 
the return of peace. The articles of confedera- 
tion previously adopted by congress gave to the 
general government no power to raise money ; 
hence the requisitions upon the states were often 
disregarded, and the nation thus left without a 
revenue. 

3. At the close of the war the debts of the 
union amounted to about forty millions of dollars. 
It became therefore an object with congress, of 
the highest importance, to devise some means 
by which this debt might be paid, as without 
this it was easily seen the union and the credit 
of the nation could not be preserved. Accord- 
ingly it was proposed to the states, that they 
should grant to congress the power of laying 
a duty of five per cent, on all foreign goods im- 
ported into this country, and that the revenue 



HISTORY C.F THE UNITED STATES. 179 

arising from this tax should go toward the hqui- 
dation of the pubhc debt, till the whole of it was 
paid. 

4. To this proposition all the states assented 
except Rhode Island and New-York; and as 
unanimity was indispensably necessary in a 
measure of this kind, all prospect of raising a 
revenue in this way was now cut off. In the 
meanwhile the interest of the debts due from the 
union to private individuals remained unpaid, 
and the national securities for debts were de- 
preciated so very low, that many of the officers 
and soldiers of the late army who were poor, 
were under the necessity of selling them for 
less than one quarter of their nominal value. 
The general distress increased and prevailed to 
such an extent in some of the states, that it pro- 
duced, among some of the inhabitants, open in- 
surrection. 

5. The first disturbance of this kind occurred 
in Massachusetts. It was headed by one Daniel 
Shays, who had been a captain in the revolu- 
tionary war. In August, 1786, he assembled 
a company of fifteen hundred insurgents, at 
Northampton, took possession of the court house, 
and prevented the session of the court. They 
demanded that the collection of debts should be 
suspended, and that the legislature should autho- 
rize the emission of paper money for general 
circulation among the people. But these sedi- 
tious proceedings were very soon suppressed 
by the efficient measures which the state made 
use of for this purpose. 



180 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

About the same time another insurrection 
broke out in New-Hampshire, but it was soon 
after suppressed without any material difficulty. 

6. In September, 1786, a convention of com- 
missioners from five of the middle states was 
held at Annapolis, for the purpose of planning 
and recommending to the states an efficient 
and uniform system of commercial regulations. 
This convention led congress to recommend the 
appointment of another, in which all the states 
might be represented, for the purpose of revising 
the articles of confederation, and adopting such 
other measures as might be thought necessary 
for the general good, and prosperity of the 
nation. 

7. Accordingly, all the states in the union, 
except Rhode Island, complied with this recom- 
mendation, and in May, 1787, the convention 
met in Philadelphia. Of this venerable body, 
George Washington, a delegate from Virginia, 
was unanimously elected president. The con- 
vention proceeded with closed doors to discuss 
the important subjects which came before them, 
and at the end of four months they agreed upon. 
a constitution for the United States, presented it 
to congress, and this body soon after sent it to 
the several states, to be considered and ratified 
by conventions called for this purpose. It was 
accordingly accepted and ratified, in the course 
of the year following, by the conventions of 
eleven states out of the thirteen. North Carolina 
and Rhode Island refusing to accept of it till 
two or three years after. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 181 

8. The constitution of the United States of 
America, which holds such a conspicuous place 
in the very existence of this vast republic, de- 
serves a distinct notice here. 

This noble instrument, which has now stood 
for so many years an imperishable monument of 
the wisdom and patriotism of those illustrious men 
by whom it was framed, vests the legislative 
power of the United States in a congress, which 
consists of two branches, one of which is called 
the senate, and the other the house of representa- 
tives. The members of the latter branch are 
elected, once in every two years, by the people 
qualified to vote in each state ; and each state 
sends a number in proportion to the number of 
inhabitants. The senators are the representa- 
tives of the states in their sovereign capacity ; 
each state sends two, and they are chosen by 
the state legislatures, for a term of six years. 

9. The congress of the United States pos- 
sesses the power to make and carry into effect 
all laws which may be necessary for the gene- 
ral welfare of the nation. This body may lay 
and collect taxes, imposts, and excises ; they may 
borrow or coin money, establish post roads and 
post offices, regulate commerce and the militia, 
make laws for naturalizing foreigners, institute 
tribunals inferior to the supreme court, define 
and punish piracy, declare war, raise and sup- 
port armies, provide a navy, and do every thing 
necessary to carry these powers into effect. 

10. But they cannot pass any bill of attainder 
or retro!5poctivo law, nor suspend the writ of 



182 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

habeas corpus, except in cases of invasion or re- 
bellion. They cannot lay a direct tax but ac- 
cording to a census of the inhabitants ; no duty 
can be laid on exports, nor can mouey be 
drawn from the treasury, except it is appropri- 
ated by law. They cannot confer any title of 
nobility, nor can any public officer receive any 
such title or any present from any foreign prince 
or power, without the consent of congress. 

1 1 . The executive power of the United States 
is vested in a president, appointed by electors, 
and who holds his office for four years. He is 
commander-in-chief of the army and navy, and 
of the militia when in actual service. He nomi- 
nates to the senate all officers of the general 
government, grants reprieves and pardons, and 
ratifies treaties with the consent of two thirds of 
the senate. He may call the congress together 
on extraordinary occasions ; and it is his duty 
to receive foreign ministers, and communicate, 
from time to time, such advice and information 
to congress as the state of the country may re- 
quire. He may be impeached by the house of 
representatives, tried by the senate, and on con- 
viction, for certain offences, he may be removed 
from office. 

12. The judicial power of the United States 
is vested in a supreme court, and also in such 
other inferior courts as congress may ordain. — 
The judicial power of these courts extend to all 
cases in law and equity, arising under the con- 
stitution, treaties, or laws of congress; to the 
cases of consuls and public ministers, to all cases 



HISTOSY OF THE UNITED STATES. 183 

of admiralty and maritime jurisprudence, to dis- 
putes between the states, and to controversies 
between citizens of different states, and between 
citizens and foreigners. The salaries of the 
judges cannot be diminished during their con- 
tinuance in ofiice, and they are continued in 
office during good behaviour. 

13. Congress may admit new states into the 
union, and the constitution pledges to each and 
all the states a repubUcan form of government, 
and protection from foreign invasion and domes- 
tic violence. In all criminal trials, the trial by 
jury is granted to the accused, except in cases 
of impeachment. The citizens of each state are 
entitled to all the privileges of citizens in the 
several states. Treason is restricted to levying 
war against the United States, and aiding and 
supporting her enemies, and no person can be 
convicted of this crime, except by confession in 
open court, or by two witnesses to the same 
act. 

14. The constitution having been ratified by 
eleven of the states, the time now arrived for the 
election of the officers to compose the executive 
and legislative departments. Accordingly the 
delegates met for this purpose in New- York, and 
on March 3d, 1789, George Washington was 
unanimously chosen president, and John Adams 
vice president of the United States. On the 
14th of the next month, the election of General 
Washington was officially presented to him while 
on his farm in Mount Vernon, Virginia. The 
fourth of March was designated as the day for 



181 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the commencement of the newly-constituted go- 
vernment, but the president elect, was not inau- 
gurated till the 30th of April. This ceremony 
took place in New-York, in an open gallery ad- 
joining the senate chamber, and in the view of 
a large concourse of people who had assembled 
to testify their joy on that interesting occasion. 

15. After taking the oath of office, he return- 
ed to the senate chamber, where he addressed, 
in a very impressive and appropriate speech, 
both houses of congress. In this speech he 
took occasion to express the reluctance with 
which he had been called from his repose and 
retirement to fill a station so solemn and respon- 
sible as the one upon which he was then enter- 
ing, and modestly referred to the deep sense 
which he felt of his unfitness for the mighty and 
untried cares before him. "Such being the 
impressions," said he, " under which I have, in 
obedience to tiie pubhc summons, repaired to 
the present station, it would be peculiarly impro- 
per to omit, in this first official act, my fervent 
supplications to that almighty Being who rules 
over the universe, who presides in the councils 
of nations, and whose providential aid can sup- 
ply every human defect, that his benediction may 
consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the 
people of the United States, a government insti- 
tuted by themselves for these essential purposes, 
and may enable every instrument employed in 
its administration to execute with success the 
functions allotted to his charge." 

16. In the conclusion he also expressed his 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 185 

firm conviction, *'• that the foundations of our 
national policy should be laid in the pure and 
immutable principles of private morality, and 
that the pre-eminence of a free government 
should be exemplified by all the attributes which 
can win the affections of its citizens, and com- 
mand the respect of the world." 

17. Immediately after the above speech was 
concluded, the president, with both houses of 
congress, repaired to the house of God, and en- 
gaged in the duties of public devotion ; thus con- 
secrating themselves and the cause in which they 
were engaged, to the special service and bless- 
ing of Heaven. 

Let not American youth ever forget the wor- 
thy example of those illustrious patriots. They 
were men who feared God, they constantly ac- 
knowledged him, in the great enterprises which 
engaged their attention, and he, according to his 
promise, " directed their steps." 

18. Immediately after the organization of the 
general government, the attention of congress 
was directed to the establishment of a sufficient 
revenue for the support of government and the 
discharge of the public debt. After a protract- 
ed discussion, it was agreed that congress should 
lay duties on imported goods and the tonnage of 
vessels. Laws were next enacted, arranging 
and fixing the several departments of the govern- 
ment, and the president proceeded according to 
the constitution to nominate the persons whom 
he thought suitable to fill them. Mr. Jefferson 
was appointed secretary of state, Col. Hamilton 



186 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

secretary of the treasury, Gen. Knox secretary 
of war, and Edmund Randolph attorney gene- 
ral. A national judiciary was organized, and 
John Jay appointed at the head of it ; and with 
him were associated John Rutledge, James Wil- 
son, William Gushing, Robert Harrison, and 
John Blair. 

19. Daring this session of congress several 
new articles were proposed, and submitted to 
the people in the different states for their ap- 
proval, to be added to the constitution. The 
salaries of the different officers of the general 
government were also fixed at this session. It 
was also among its acts to appoint a day of 
public thanksgiving and prayer. Impressed 
with a deep sense of the Divine goodness, con- 
gross requested the president to designate a day 
on which the people might assemble, and, in 
pious gratitude, acknowledge their obhgations to 
the supreme Ruler of the universe, for the mer- 
cies with which they had been distinguished, in 
being permitted to establish a government that 
promised so much safety and happiness to the 
nation. 

20. After the adjournment of congress, the 
chief magistrate made a tour through the east- 
ern states, which resulted in much joy and 
satisfaction both to himself and the people gene- 
rally. He passed through Connecticut Massa- 
chusetts, and as far into New- Hampshire as 
Portsmouth, whence he returned by another 
route to New-York. He was every where 
received with expressions of the sincerest affee- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 187 

tion : people of all classes seemed to vie with 
each other in their efforts to demonstrate their 
undissembled homage to the chief magistrate of 
the nation. His presence was hailed with the 
most enthusiastic pleasure by many of the sol- 
diers and officers who had served in the field 
under him, and who now rejoiced in having it 
in their power once more, personally, to afford 
him a token of their affectionate remembrance. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Washington's administration — War with the north- 
western Indians — Re-election of Washington to the 
presidency. 

1. The next session of congress commenced 
in January, 1790. At the former session a 
resolution was passed, requesting the secretary 
of the treasury to mature a plan for the support 
of the public credit, and to present it to the next 
meeting. This plan was accordingly presented 
to congress at the commencement of this session. 
This celebrated report recommended that pro- 
vision should be made for the full discharge of 
the foreign debt, according to the terms of the 
contract ; and that means should be adopted for 
paying the domestic debt in a similar manner ; 
and that the different debts contracted by the 
several states in carrying on the late war, should 
be assumed by the general government. 

2. The report of the secretary was very ably 
discussed, and finally adopted. To meet the 



188 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

object it proposed, congress resolved to apply 
ihe avails which might arise from the sales of the 
lands lying in the western territory, and the 
surplus product of the revenue, together with 
two millions of dollars, which the president was 
authorized to borrow for this purpose. These 
measures had a most favourable influence upon 
the state of things in the nation generally ; a 
permanent basis was laid for the foundation of 
the national credit ; the price of the paper, 
which had depreciated to twelve or fifteen cents 
on the dollar, immediately rose to the amount 
expressed on the face of it, and a new stimulus 
was suddenly communicated to commerce and 
agriculture throughout the country. 

3. By an act of this session of congress, Ver- 
mont was admitted into the union, and in 1792 
Kentucky was also added to the number of the 
stales. 

Congress before this had taken measures for 
the defence of the western frontiers, which for 
some time had been suffering from the repeated 
inroads which some hostile tribes of the savages 
were making upon the settlements. As the 
president had failed in his attempts to make 
peace with them, an expedition was now planned 
against them, and the charge of it committed to 
General St. Clair. The objects of this enter- 
prise were to destroy the Indian villages on the 
Miamis, and drive the savages from that region, 
so that it might be connected with the Ohio 
country by a chain of posts, and their return 
prevented during the war. 



HISTOHY OF THE UNITED STATES. 189 

4. The army of General St. Clair amounted 
to about one thousand four hundred men. On 
the 1st of November, 1791, he met the savages 
near the Miami, in Ohio, where a most severe 
engagement ensued, and he was totally defeated. 
Thirty-eight commissioned officers were killed, 
and nearly one half of his entire army were left 
among the slain. Various other attempts were 
afterward made to prosecute the war success, 
fully against those hostile tribes, but without 
much effect, till August, 1794, when Gen. Wayne 
engaged them on the banks of the Miami. The 
Americans, at this time, did not exceed nine 
hundred, but the savages amounted to two thou- 
sand. They were completely routed, and their 
whole country laid waste. In the course of the 
next year they came to terms of peace, and a treaty 
was accordingly concluded between them and the 
United States, by which the western frontiers were 
secured from farther hostilities. 

5. George Washington, having been re-elected 
to the presidency of the United States, was in- 
ducted into office in March 1793. Mr. Adams 
was chosen vice president. Events were now 
going on in France whicli excited the deepest 
interest throughout the United States. Many 
of that nation had participated with the Ameri- 
cans in their struggle for freedom and indepeiid- 
ence, and they had carried back to France a 
spirit which did not well agree with the monarch- 
ial form of government which had so long pre- 
vailed in that country. This spirit, together 
with other causes, had been gradually working 



190 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

a revolution in France for a number of years 
before, and in the spring of 1793 information 
was received of the declaration of war, by 
France, against England and Holland. 

6. As a treaty of alliance had been formed be- 
between the United States and France, it now be- 
came a question of the most serious importance, 
what course the former should take in relation 
to the belligerent powers. Washington laid thq 
subject before his cabinet, and received their 
unanimous opinion, that a strict neutrality 
should be observed, by the United States, to- 
ward the contending nations ; accordingly, the 
president issued his proclamation to this effect, 
on the 23d of April, 1793. This step, on the 
part of Washington, not having the sanction of 
congress, excited very considerable opposition : 
it was denounced by many as an assumption of 
power, unauthorized and highly dishonourable 
to the United States. 

7. In March, 1794, congress passed an act 
to fortify and garrison the principal ports in the 
United States, and another to provide a naval 
force for the protection of American commerce. 
The reasons assigned for the last act were, 
that American merchant ships, and a number 
of American citizens had been captured by the 
Algerines, and preparations were still in pro- 
gress to commit farther depredations on Ame- 
rican commerce, by the Algerine corsairs. By 
this act, the president was empowered to equip 
and employ four ships, of forty-four guns each, 
and two of thirty-six guns each. 



HISTORV OF THE UNITED STATES. 191 

8. Another act was passed during this session 
of congress, which prohibited the slave trade 
from the ports of the United States. We 
have before observed, that the first slaves 
were introduced into Virginia by the Dutch : 
see chap, ii, 11. This most disgraceful and 
inhuman traffic was soon after taken up, and 
encouraged, in the colonies, by the British go- 
vernment, notwithstanding a determined opposi- 
tion was very early manifested, by many of them, 
against it. Severe laws were passed against it 
in the Massachusetts colony, in 1645, and in 
1703 a heavy duty was imposed on every ne- 
gro imported into the colony, and the same 
legislature afterward denominated the practice 
" the unnatural and unaccountable custom of 
enslaving mankind.^'' And even Virginia made 
some efforts to prevent the trade, as early as 
1699. 

9. At the commencement of the revolution- 
ary war, a man died in Providence, R. I., 
without a will, and a number of slaves which he 
owned fell to the town by law. A town meet- 
ing was called, to consider v/hat should be done 
with them, whereupon it was resolved unani- 
mously, that in view of the struggle in which 
the colonies were then engaged, for their rights 
and liberties, it would be manifestly inconsistent 
to retain those slaves in bondage, and they 
were accordingly set at liberty.* 

* The above fact the author took from a newspaper, 
published at Newport, R. I., in 1774, or 1775. 



1 92 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The first continental congress passed a reso- 
lution against the traffic, and exhorted the colo- 
nies to abandon it altogether ; and slavery was 
abolished, in toto, by all the New-England states 
in which it had existed, and some of the middle 
states also, soon after the declaration of inde- 
pendence. From the above facts we learn, 
that the United States were before Great Bri- 
tain in their efforts to abolish slavery; now, how- 
ever. Great Britain is far before us, as slavery 
is totally and for ever abolished throughout the 
British dominions. 

10. Though the executive of the United States 
had resolved not to be drawn into the diffi- 
culty existing between France and England, yet 
a number of circumstances had occurred, since 
the peace of 1783, which, together with some 
acts of parliament, passed in relation to the M'ar 
with France, seemed likely to involve the United 
States in another war with Great Britain. The 
latter was accused by the former of violating the 
articles of the treaty made at the close of the 
last war, in carrying away negroes, and retain- 
ing possession of certain military posts in the 
west, which, it was stipulated, should be given 
up to the United States. 

11. Again, parliament had passed an act pro- 
hibiting the exportation of certain articles to 
France, and authorizing the capture of neutral 
vessels carrying them to any of the ports of that 
nation. Accordingly, a number of American 
vessels were captured by the British ships of 
war, and carried to England. These offensive 



HISTORY or THE UNITED STATES. 193 

proceedings induced congress to adopt several 
measures in anticipation of another war with 
Great Britain. Bills were passed, imposing an 
embargo on all the United States ports, for 
thirty days, for putting the forts in a state of de- 
fence, and raising and regulating an army. But 
Mr. Jay having been appointed envoy extraor- 
dinary to the court of St. James, an amicable 
adjustment of these difficulties was concluded by 
him, in 1794, and in the spring of the next year 
a treaty of commerce and navigation, which had 
been signed by him, was ratified by the United 
States senate. 

12. In 1791, congress had enacted laws, lay- 
ing duties upon spirits distilled within the United 
States, and also upon distilleries. From the 
time these laws began to take effect, measures 
were taken in the four western counties of 
Pennsylvania to prevent their operation, and in 
the summer of 1794 this opposition arose to open 
violence. In August, President Washington 
issued a proclamation, commanding the insur- 
gents, who had assembled with arms, to disperse, 
and warning all persons against encouraging such 
opposition ; and in September another proclama- 
tion was issued, faithfully admonishing all persons 
concerned, and avowing his fixed determination 
to do all in his power to see that the laws of the 
land were faithfully executed. Finally, a body 
of the militia was ordered out, under the com- 
mand of Governor Lee, of Maryland, upon the 
approach of which the malcontents laid down their 
arms, and promised future obedience to the luws. 
13 



194 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

13. Tennessee was admitted as a state into 
the union, by an act of congress, in June, 1796. 

The time was now approaching when a new 
election of the chief magistrate of the nation 
must be made. A number of reasons induced 
Washington to form the resokition to decline 
standing again as a candidate for that office. 
A great part of his lite had now been devoted to 
the service of his country ; for a number of 
years he had led her armies upon the field, and in 
the councils of the nation also he had borne a 
distinguished part, in planning and maturing the 
principles of iier government, which now pro- 
mised so much good to the nation and the 
world. 

14. He had sacrificed his own private views, 
and domestic quiet, in obeying the call of his 
country to occupy the posts which the suffrages 
of a free people had assigned him, and he now 
felt an ardent desire to terminate his public toil, 
and retire once more to the repose of private 
life. 

He announced his design to the American 
people in a farewell address, which was every 
way worthy of a great and good man. The 
stations which Washington had occupied, and 
the experience he had acquired in conducting 
the affairs of the nation, gave him the most in- 
timate knowledge of the dangers which threat- 
ened the prosperity of the republic, and qualified 
him more than any other individual to afford 
that advice to the people which the situation of 
the country required. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 195 

15. "The unity of government," said this 
paternal statesman, "which constitutes you one 
people, is now dear to you. It is justly so : for 
it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real 
independence; the support of your tranquillity 
at home ; your peace ahroad ; of your safety, 
of your prosperity, of that very liberty which 
you so highly prize. But, as it is easy to fore- 
see, that from different causes, and from different 
quarters, much pains will be taken, many arti- 
fices employed, to weaken in your minds the 
conviction of this truth; as this is the point of 
your political fortress, against which the batte- 
ries of internal and external enemies will be 
most constantly and actively, though often co- 
vertly and insidiously, directed, it is of infinite 
moment that you should properly estimate the 
immense value of your national union to your 
collective and individual happiness ; that you 
should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immova- 
ble attachment to it, accustoming yourselves to 
think and speak of it as of the palladium of your 
political safety and prosperity ; watching for its 
preservation with jealous anxiety, discountenanc 
ing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that 
it can in any event be abandoned ; and indig- 
nantly frowning upon the first dawning of every 
attempt to alienate any portion of our country 
from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties 
Avhich now link together the various parts. 

16. "Of all the dispositions and habits which 
lead to political prosperity," he adds, " religion 
and MORALITY ure indispensable supports. In 



196 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

vain would that man claim (he tribute of patriot- 
ism, who should labour to subvert these great 
pillars of human happiness, these firmest props 
of the duties of men and citizens. The mere 
politician, equally with the pious man, ought to 
respect and cherish them ; a volume could not 
trace all their connections with private and pub- 
lic felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is 
the security for property, for reputation, for life, 
if the sense of religious obligation desert the 
oaths which are the instruments of investigation 
in courts of justice? and let us with caution in- 
dulge the supposition, that morality can be main- 
tained without religion. Whatever may be con- 
ceded to the influence of refined education on 
minds of peculiar structure, reason and expe- 
rience both forbid us to expect that national 
morality can ever prevail in exclusion of reli- 
gious ■princijpleJ'' 

17. The above language exhibits in striking 
features the Christian, the patriot, and the states- 
man, in the truest sense of these words. Such 
was George Washington ; distinguished for his 
virtues while he lived, above all the heroes of 
antiquity, his greatness commanded the admira- 
tion of all who ever heard of his fame, and he 
died honoured and lamented by the whole world. 

This melancholy event occurred on the 14th 
of December, 1799, at his seat, at Mount Ver- 
non, in Virginia. He was only sick one day, 
but he died with the greatest composure, saying 
to his physician just before he left the world, " I 
ain not afraid to die." 



lUSTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 197 

The news of his death clothed the nation in 
gloom. Congress, which was then in session at 
Philadelphia, immediately adopted resolutions ex- 
pressive of their high sense of his worth, and 
took measures for oti'ering a proper tribute of 
respect to his memory. Throughout the nation 
marks of unaffected and spontaneous grief were 
exhibited, orations and speeches were delivered, 
extolling the virtues of "the man first in war, 
first in peace, and fi.rst in the hearts of his fellow 
citizens." 



CHAPTER XXiri. 

Administration of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. 

1. John Adams, having been elected presi- 
dent of the United States, was inducted into 
office on the 4th of March, 1797. In his inau- 
gural address to congress, he took an enlarged 
view of the rise and establishment of the Ameri- 
can republic, the dependence of the people upon 
the Divine favour for the mercies which they 
enjoyed, and the means by which the blessings 
then enjoyed might be perpetuated to the latest 
ages of their posterity. 

2. Soon after Adams came into office, the at- 
tention of congress was called to consider some 
communications of a very alarming character 
which had been made from the American minis- 
ter at Paris, concerning the disposition of France 
toward the United States. The year before, 



198 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Mr. Pinckney had been appointed minister ple- 
nipotentiary to the French court, for the purpose 
of maintaining that friendly understanding, 
which, from the commencement of the alhance, 
had existed between the two nations, and to ef- 
face unfavourable impressions, banish suspicions, 
and restore that cordiality which was at once 
the evidence and pledge of a friendly union. 

3. When he communicated his object to the 
proper authorities in France, he was directly in. 
formed, that no minister in his character would 
be received until the American government had 
met and satisfied the demands which the French 
republic had made against the United States, 
and accordingly he was ordered to quit the 
French dominions without delay. 

And beside, American vessels were captured 
by the French wherever found, without any re-, 
gard to the treaty of alliance and commerce, 
which for a number of years had been sacredly 
observed by the two nations. 

4. In deliberating on this state of things, con- 
gress evinced a deep reluctance against engaging 
in war to remove the evil, but at the same time 
showed their sense of duty to the nation by 
enacting laws to put it in a state of safety and 
defence. The president was authorized to de.: 
tach eighty thousand men from the militia of the 
United States, and to take other effective mea- 
sures for regulating the army, and preparing for 
any emergency which might call for their ser- 
vices. At the same time other ministers were 
despatched to France, with instructions to bring 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 199 

about a peaceable adjustment of the difficulties 
if possible, 

5. These, however, met with no better recep- 
tion than the other ; they were insultingly in- 
formed, that before any negotiation could be open- 
ed, large sums of money must be advanced, and 
various methods were used to extort such a tribute 
from the American ministers. Much time was 
spent in fruitless labour to bring about a friendly 
adjustment of difficulties, till finally two of the 
envo)'s were ordered by the French government 
to quit their territory, and in the spring of 1798 
intelligence was received of the total iailure of 
the mission. 

6. The knowledge of the above facts excited 
great indignation throughout the United States, 
and the language which every where prevailed 
was, " Millions for defence, not a cent for tri- 
bute." But while other preparations were mak- 
ing for an anticipated war with France, as the 
treaty of alliance was now annulled, she made 
peaceful overtures, and ministers being appoint- 
ed for this purpose, a satisfactory treaty was set- 
tled between the two nations, at Paris, in Sept., 
1800. Before this, a desperate action was fought 
between an American frigate, the Constellation, 
of thirty-eight guns, commanded by Commodore 
Truxton, and a French frigate of forty guns. — 
The former, though inferior in force, was victo- 
rious ; and in another action shortly after, with 
another French frigate of fifty guns, she con- 
quered, but the enemy after striking her flag es- 
caped in the night. 



200 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. 

7. In 1800 the seat of the general govern- 
ment, according to a previous resolution of con- 
gress, was transferred from Philadelphia to 
Washington city, in the District of Columbia. — 
This district was ceded to the United States by 
Maryland and Virginia, in 1790 : it is nbout ten 
miles square, and is on the tide waters of I he 
Potomac, about three hundred miles from the 
sea. This section is under the sole jurisdic- 
tion of congress. Here suitable buildings have 
been erected for the accommodation of congress 
and officers of the general government, and to 
the city the name of Washington was most ap- 
propriately given. 

8. Thomas Jeiferson was inducted into office 
as president of the United States, March 4, 1801. 
Aaron Burr was chosen vice president. The 
administration of Mr. Adams was rendered un- 
popular by some of the measures adopted by 
congress during his presidency, and it was easily 
foreseen, before his time of service expired, that 
there would be strong opposition made against 
his re-election. In the speech of Mr. Jeflerson, 
delivered before congress, on his induction into 
office, he gave a very full and free expression 
of his political views, and the principles by which 
he designed to be governed in the discharge of 
his duties as chief magistrate of the nation. 

9. Among these were, " equal and exact jus- 
tice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, 
religious or political ; peace, commerce, and 
honest friendship with all nations, entangling 
alliances with none ; the support of the state 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 201 

governments in all their rights, as the most com- 
patent administration tor our domestic concerns, 
and the surest bulwarks ngainst anti-republican 
tendencies ; the preservation of the general go- 
vernment in its whole constitutional vigour, as 
the sheet anchor of our peace at home, and 
safety abroad. 

10. " A jealous care of the right of election 
by the people, a mild and safe corrective of 
abuses which are lopped by the sword of revo- 
lution where peaceable remedies are unprovided ; 
absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the ma- 
jority, the vital principle of republics, from which 
is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and 
immediate parent of despotisms ; a well-disci- 
plined militia, our best reliance in peace, and for 
the first moments of war, till regulars may re- 
lieve them. 

11. "The supremacy of the civil over the 
military authority ; economy in the public ex- 
penses, that labour may be lightly burdened ; 
the honest payment of our debts, and sacred pre- 
servation of the public faith ; encouragement of 
agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid ; 
the difTusion of information, and arraignment of 
all abuses at the bar of public reason ; freedom 
of religion ; freedom of the press; and freedom 
of person under the protection of the habeas cor- 
pus, and trial by juries impartially selected. 

"These principles," said Mr. Jelferson, "should 
form the creed of our political faith ; and should 
we wander from them in moments of error or 
alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, and to 



202 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

regain the road which alone leads to peace, 
liberty, and safety." 

12. Mr. Jefferson informed congress of cer- 
tain aggressions committed against the Ameri- 
can commerce by some Tripolitan cruisers, and 
the demands of that government for tribute from 
all vessels trading to her ports. Whereupon mea- 
sures were taken by congress to protect the ship- 
ping of the United States, and to chasten the 
enemy for the wrongs they had committed. It 
w'as not, however, till 1803 that any thing spe- 
cial was accomplished to this end, when Com- 
modore Preble, with a large fleet, bombarded the 
forts and town of Tripoli. And in the beginning 
of the next year, a valiant attack was made 
against those barbarians, by Stephen Decatur, 
a lieutenant in the American navy, which hum- 
bled them, and greatly exalted the fame of the 
American arms. 

13. William Eaton, who had formerly been a 
captain in the American army, was consul at 
Tunis, when this war commenced. While there, 
this intrepid man formed a most daring and labo- 
rious project against the Tripolitans, and which 
he successfully executed. 

He raised an army in Egypt, in company with 
the brother of the sovereign of Tripoli, and 
marched through incredible hardships across the 
desert, one thousand miles. On the 25th of A pril, 
1805, after fifty days of hard travelling, they ar- 
rived at Derne, a Tripolitan city on the iMediter- 
ranean Sea. The city was attacked and captured, 
but with considerable loss among the assailants. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 203 

14. A few days after the Americans had for- 
tified the city which they had conquered, they 
were attacked by a very large Tripohtan army, 
but they resisted with desperate valour for more 
than four hours, till the assailants were compel- 
led to retire. Another battle was fought on the 
first of June following, and as before the Ame- 
rican arms were crowned with victory. Soon 
after, a treaty of peace was concluded, and thus 
the Uuited States taught the Barbary powers to 
respect the flag of the nation " without the pay- 
ment of a disgraceful tribute." 

15. In 1802 Ohio became a state, and was 
admitted into the union. An ordinance was 
passed by congress, in 1787, for the government 
of this section, in which it was provided that 
slavery should never disgrace that, as it had done 
other portions of the country. 

The term of Mr. Jefferson's presidency having 
expired, he was elected again to this office, and 
took the oath required in the constitution, March 
4th, 1805. George Clinton was chosen vice 
president. 

This year Michigan was constituted a district 
territorial government of the United States, and 
General Hull was appointed the first governor. 

16. In the summer of 1807, an event occur- 
red, which, for awhile, seemed to provoke the 
just indignation of the whole American people. 
The Chesapeake, an American frigate, command, 
ed by Commodore Barron, was come up with 
and fired upon by the Leopard, a British ship of 
war, without the least provocation. Three of 



204 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

her men were killed, and eighteen wounded. — 
This daring outrage to humanity, and insult to 
national honour, aroused the attention of con- 
gress, and measures were immediately taken to 
redress the wrong, and maintain the dignity and 
acknowledged rights of the nation. 

17. The president issued a proclamation, for- 
bidding all British ships of war from entering 
any of the harbours of the United States, and 
prohibiting all intercourse with them ; and an 
armed vessel was immediately despatched to 
England with instructions to the American mi- 
nister at London to inquire into the affair, and 
to ask for suitable satisfaction and security 
against farther aggressions of this kind. 

In the meanwhile, the president called a meet- 
ing of congress, to determine on what farther 
measures should be adopted. He informed 
them of what he had done, and also of a prof- 
fered treaty of the British government, which he 
had rejected, because it gave no pledge of ces- 
sation, on the part of the British ships of war, 
from impressing American seamen. 

18. At this time France and England were 
at war, and some of the measures taken by both 
these nations, to annoy each other, seriously 
affected the commercial interests of the United 
States, which induced congress to lay an embar- 
go on all vessels within its jurisdiction. The 
president was also empowered to equip one hun- 
dred thousand of the national militia, and a million 
of dollars was voted for this purpose ; and other 
large sums were granted for building gun boats, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 205 

preparing fortifications, and making additions to 
the army. 

19. In 1807, Aaron Burr, who had formerly 
been vice president of the United States, was 
apprehended, and tried on a charge of treason 
against his country ; and also on a charge of 
preparing and commencing an expedition against 
the dominions of Spain. He had purchased, the 
year before, a number of boats, on the Ohio ; 
and engaged men to descend that river in them, 
under the ostensible purpose of forming a new 
settlement in Louisiana, but from a number 
of accidental disclosures made by some of his 
party, in the meantime, suspicion was immedi- 
ately excited as to his real design. 

He was tried before Jolm Marshall, chief 
justice of the United States, but sufficient evi- 
dence of his guilt could not be found, to convict 
him, according to the constitution, and he was 
accordingly acquitted by the jury : see chapter 
xxi, 13. 

20. The embargo law mentioned above, 17, 
was exceedingly afflicting to some parts of the 
United States, especially so in Nevv-England, as 
it prevented many of the people from pursuing 
their accustomed course of trade, and seemed, 
for awhile, to threaten them with poverty and 
ruin. At the same time there were sufficient 
reasons seen and felt, by the great proportion of 
the people, for the passage of this law ; but as 
it failed to accomplish the end which congress 
had in view in passing it, in March, 1809, it 
was repealed, and another substituted for it, pro- 



206 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

hibiting all intercourse with France and Eng- 
land, until those nations annulled the hostile 
edicts which they had passed, and which bore 
so unjustly against the commerce of the United 
States. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

The administration of James Madison — and war with 
Great Britain. 

1. Mr. Jeffersois's second term of office 
having expired, on the 4th of March, 1809, Mr. 
Madison was inducted into the presidency, and 
George Clinton was re-elected vice president. 

The measures which Great Britain and France 
still continued to take in the prosecution of the war 
with each other, increased the embarrassments 
in the way of the United States commerce, and 
rendered the situation of this country exceedingly 
critical and gloomy. Every effort of congress, 
and of the president, to remove the difficulties, 
proved ineffectual, till it was every where seen, 
that the nation must either submit to the most 
insulting violation of her rights, or take up arms 
in their defence. 

2. In June, 1812, the president earnestly 
requested the attention of congress to this 
subject, and stated some of the offences which 
were constantly committed, by Great Britain, 
against the peace and rights of this nation. 
Among which were the seizure of persons, upon 
the high seas, who were sailing under the Ameri- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 207 

can flag ; the impressment of American seamen, 
and their compulsion to serve on board British 
ships of war ; the violation of the peace and 
rights of our coasts, by British cruisers ; and 
the instigation of the Indians to acts of hostility, 
by British agents, against the peaceful inhabitants 
of our western frontiers. 

3. He therefore submitted it to congress, 
whether the United States ought to continue 
passive, under such repeated aggressions and 
accumulated wrongs ; or, committing their cause 
into the hands of the God of justice, whether 
they should not, without delay, make use of the 
means which he had put in their power, and de- 
fend their rights against the increasing usurpa- 
tions of an insolent /oe. 

The message, in which this appeal was made, 
was referred to a committee on foreign relations, 
who immediately presented a manifesto to the 
house of representatives of the reasons for an 
immediate war with Great Britain ; and the next 
day, June 4th, a bill, to this effect, was passed 
by the house of representatives. On the 17th of 
the same month it passed the senate, and the 
next day the president issued his proclamation, 
declaring war with Great Britain. 

4. As to the expediency of this measure, both 
houses of congress, as well as the people of the 
United States, were considerably divided. The 
following views were taken of it, in the report 
of the committee mentioned above: — 

" Your committee," said they, " believing that 
the free.born sons of America are worthy to en- 



208 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

joy the liberty which their fathers purchased at 
the price of much blood and treasure, and seeing 
by the measures adopted by Great Britain, a 
course commenced and persisted in, which 
might lead to a loss of national character and 
independence, feel no hesitation in advising 
resistance by force, in which the Americans of 
the present day will prove to the enemy, and the 
world, that we have not only inherited that 
liberty which our fathers gave us, but also the 
will and the power to maintain it. Relying on 
the patriotism of the nation, and confidently 
trusting that the Lord of hosis will go with us 
to battle in a righteous cause, and crown our 
efforts with success, your committee recommend 
an immediate appeal to ani\s." 

5. But the minority in the house of represent- 
atives, comprising the principal part of the mem- 
bers from New-England, presented a solemn 
protest against the declaration of war, in an ad- 
dress to their constituents. They urged their 
objections on the ground that the injuries of which 
the United States complained, might be adjusted 
without resorting to arms, and that a war with 
Great Britain, even if prosecuted with ever so 
much vigour, on our part, would certainly involve 
the nation in greater evils than any she had al- 
ready sutTered. 

6. The attention of congress was now taken 
up in making preparations for the war in which 
they had resolved to engage ; acts were passed, 
for enlisting twenty-five thousand men, and the 
president was empowered to raise fifty. thousand 



HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 209 

volunteers, and employ one hundred thousand 
of the miiitia for the defence of the country. 

It is true, the zeal and patriotism of many of 
the people in the United States run high on this 
occasion ; they had not forgotten the success of 
th«jif arms when the country was engaged in a 
previous war, and they now anticipated a sue 
cess still more brilliant, as the nation had increas- 
ed in wealth and numbers, and no doubt was now 
entertained but certain conquest would crown 
their efforts in the defence of a good cause. 

7. However, there was a disparity between 
the powers of the two nations, which we may 
reasonably suppose was not sufficiently consider- 
ed by some in the great excitement which pre- 
vailed at that time. No occasion had occurred 
since the revolutionary war to call forth and in- 
crease the military energies of the nation, while 
all this time the enen)y she now had to encoun- 
ter had been multiplying her arms, and increas- 
ing in that kind of skill and strength which is 
necessary to use them. 

And beside, there was now a want of well- 
tried and experienced officers in the American 
army to lead forth the troops upon the field of 
battle, as most of those honoured heroes who 
had served in the first war were now either 
dead, or so far advanced in age, as to be inca- 
pable of so high a trust. 

8. A few were found, however, from whom a 
number were chosen for the above purpose. — 
Henry Dearborn, of Massachusetts, was appoint- 
ed major general and commander-in-chief; the 

14 



210 HISTORY OF Tlir. UNITED STATES. 

oflice of major general was also contbrred on 
Thomas Pinkney, of South Carolina ; and Wil- 
kinson, Hull, Bloomfield, and Hampton, were 
appointed to the office of brigadiers. 

In August of this year, 1812, an event occur- 
red which filled the nation with mortilication and 
disappointment. General Hull, the governor of 
the Michigan territory, had been sent to Detroit 
with an army of two thousand men, for the pur- 
pose of putting an end to the hostilities which 
were committed against the inhabitants in that 
region. After some maneuvering and boasting 
of his power, General Brock, with some Indians 
and British militia, marched against him, and 
Hull, without suffering his valiant men to attempt 
the least resistance, coward like, surrendered his 
army, and the whole territory over which he 
was placed, into the hands of the enemy. 

9. But the chagrin occasioned by this disgrace- 
ful afi'air, was in a measure forgotten in the 
general joy which was caused very soon after, 
by a series of victories achieved by our ships 
upon the ocean. 

The first was won by the United States fiigate 
Constitution, under the command of Captain 
Isaac Hull, which captured, in an action of thirty 
minutes, the British frigate Guerriere, command, 
ed by Captain Dacres. The loss of the Constitu- 
tion was seven killed, and the same number was 
wounded ; the Guerriere had fifteen killed, sixty- 
four wounded, and twenty-one missing, and she 
was so disabled in the action, that Captain Hull 
caused her to be burnt immediately after. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 211 

10. During the same month, the United States 
frigate, commanded by Captain Porter, captured 
a British sloop of war after an action of only 
eight minutes. Another victory was achieved 
on the 18th of October, by Captain Jones, in the 
sloop of war called the Wasp, carrying eighteen 
guns, over the British brig Frolic, carrying twen- 
ty-two guns, after a bloody action of three quar- 
ters of an hour. This victory shed a brilliant 
lustre upon the naval prowess of the United 
States, The Wasp had only eight killed and 
wounded, but the FroUc, though decidedly supe- 
rior in force, had, in killed and wounded, no less 
than ten times that number. But this gallant 
ship was captured, with her prize, the same day, 
by a British seventy-four. 

11. Another victory followed the above on 
the 25th of the same month. The frigate Uni- 
ted States, Captain Decatur, commander, fell 
in with, and captured the British frigate Mace- 
donian, after a desperate action which lasted one 
hour and a half. The Macedonian carried for- 
ty-nine guns, and was manned with three bun- 
dred men, of whom thirty-six were killed, and 
sixty-eight wounded. On board the Ameri- 
can frigate seven only were killed and five 
wounded. 

The generosity and kindness of sailors, though 
often accustomed to such scenes of blood and 
death, have been proverbial from the remotest 
ages. An event took place in the above engage- 
ment with the Macedonian, which afforded an 
occasion for the illustration of these kind dispo- 



212 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

sitions, certainly to good advantage. It became 
known on board the American frigate, after the 
action, that a carpenter, who had left a poor wife 
with three helpless children, had unfortunately 
fallen in the contest. Whereupon a contribution 
was immediately set on foot, and the noble sum 
of eight hundred dollars made up, for the support 
and education of the poor little hapless ones, 
whom that fight had rendered fatherless. 

12. We have already recorded one victory 
achieved by the Constitution. On the 29th of 
the December following, she accomplished an- 
other, over the British frigate Java, after a most 
destructive action of more than three hours. She 
was at this time commanded by Captain Bain- 
bridge : of her crew thirty- four were killed and 
wounded ; the Java had sixty killed and one hun- 
dred and twenty wounded. 

W^hile these successive victories were achiev- 
ed upon the ocean, nothing of importance was 
done on the land. The American troops had 
been divided into three armies, one of which 
was placed under the command of General Har- 
rison, and called the north western army ; the 
second was put under General Van Rensselaer, 
and called the centre army ; and the other was 
called the north army, and was commanded by 
General Dearborn, the commander-in-chief. 

13. At the session of congress held in the 
fall of 1812, the president was authorized to 
increase the army, by an addition of twenty 
regiments of infantry, and to take measures for 
raising money to defray the expenses of the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 213 

war, and provision was also made for building a 
number of ships for the navy. 

The president called upon the several govern- 
ors of the different states, according to a previous 
act of congress, for a proportioned number of 
militia, to man the fortresses, on the maritime 
frontiers. But Governor Strong, of Massachu- 
setts, Jones, of Rhode Island, and Griswold, of 
Connecticut, refused to comply with this de- 
mand, upon the ground, that the exigencies had 
not arrived, for which the constitution authorized 
such a requisition. 

14. On the 4th of March, 1813, Mr. Madi- 
son was inducted into office, as president of the 
United States, for the second term, and Elbridge 
Gerry was elected vice president. 

The military operations of this year were 
principally in the north, toward Canada. In 
January, General Winchester, with nearly five 
hundred men, was made a prisoner, by a 
British army, at Frenchtown. In April, York, 
the capital "of Upper Canada, was taken by the 
American troops, under General Dearborn. 
The loss of the Americans, in that enterprise, 
amounted to two hundred and three, that of the 
enemy was nine liundred and thirty, of which 
number, seven hundred and fifty were made 
prisoners. 

15. May 27th Fort George was taken by the 
American troops, under General Boyd and 
Colonel Miller. The enemy lost one hundred 
and eight killed, and seven hundred and seventy, 
five who were taken prisoners. The loss of 



214 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the Americans was only thirty-nine, one hundred 
and eight were wounded. Soon after the above, 
General Provost, with one thousand British, 
made an attack upon Sackett's Harbour, but 
they were repulsed with considerable loss, leav- 
ing two hundred and sixty dead upon the field, 
and about thirty were taken prisoners. 

16. On the first of June, the United States 
frigate Chesapeake, under the command of Capt. 
James Lawrence, was captured by the British 
ship Shannon, Captain Brocke, after an action 
of only eleven minutes. This victory was the 
more easily gained by the superior force of the 
enemy, as most of the Chesapeake's crew were 
but recently enlisted, and many of them in a state 
of unfitness for an engagement. About seventy of 
them were killed and eighty-three wounded : of the 
enemy twenty -three were killed and fifty wound- 
ed. The gallant Lawrence was among the slain. 

A victory of this kind having become some- 
what of a rare occurrence, in the British navy, 
this was hailed with great joy and rejoicing 
throughout the British empire, and Capt. Brocke 
was rewarded with unusual honours, for having 
conquered an American frigate, in single com- 
bat, a work this, which many of his compeers in 
office had found themselves unable to accomplish. 

17. In August, the United States sloop of war 
Argus, of eighteen guns, was captured by the 
Pelican, carrying twenty guns. But these losses 
were soon after made up to the Americans, as 
we shall presently see. On the 5th of Septem- 
ber, a severe action v/as fought between the 



HISTORY OF THK UNITED STATES. 215 

American brig Enterprise, Lieutenant Burrows 
commander, and the Boxer, a British brig of the 
same size, commanded by Captain Blythe. Af- 
ter an engagement of about twenty minutes, the 
enemy pulled down her flag, and cried for 
quarters. Tiic commanders of both vessels 
were killed, and in Portland, Maine, were buried, 
Jt each by the other's side. 

18. At Crancy Island, the British were defeated 
by Colonel Beaty, Captain Torbell, and others 
of the United States navy. One thousand 
two hundred were either killed, drowned, or 
wounded, beside forty of the enemy who de- 
serted. 

The warlike movements on Lake Erie, and 
on the north-western frontier, now demand our 
attention. By the exertions of Commodore 
Perry, an American squadron had been prepared 
for service, on the above-named lake, consisting 
of nine small vessels, carrying fifty-four guns. 
At the same time, a British squadron of six 
vessels, comprising two ships, two brigs, one 
schooner, and a sloop, mounting in all sixty, 
three guns, was fitted out on the same lake, 
under the command of Commodore Barclay. 

19. Every thing being in readiness, Commo. 
dore Perry sailed and oflTered an engagement with 
the adversary. On the 10th of September they 
fell in with each other; Perry immediately hoisted 
the American flag, on which were inscribed the 
dying words of the heroic Lawrence, " Dont give 
up the ship," and this signal was directly answer- 
ed by three loud cheers from all the other vessels 



216 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of his squadron, which signified the readiness of 
the American tars to sustain their vaHant conn- 
mander in the approaching conflict. A calm 
prevented the whole of both squadrons from 
being brought into close action, at Hrst, and for 
two hours the American flag ship sustained, 
alone, the constant fire of two of the enemy's 
vessels. Her crew, amounting to one hundred, 
were all either wounded or killed, but seven, 
and she was so much cut to pieces as to be un- 
manageable, when the wind springing up brought 
another of Perry's vessels into the action, and 
to this ship the commodore now transferred 
himself and flag, in an open boat, through the 
unremitted fire of the enemy. 

20. The wind now brought the squadrons 
into contact, and the battle raged with dreadful 
fury. Very soon one of the enemy's vessels 
was silenced, and surrendered, and then another, 
and then a third, till the whole were captured. 
Thus a complete victory was obtained over a 
decidedly superior force, and a whole squadron 
yielded to the valour of a few American sea- 
men. The enemy lost forty-one killed, and 
ninety. four wounded ; the Americans lost twenty. 
seven killed, and ninety-six wounded ; but they 
took six.hundred prisoners, which amounted to 
more in number than the whole of Perry's crew 
put together. 

21. Something was now done toward recover- 
ing the territory which, some time before, had 
been surrendered to the British, by Governor 
I^ulL Accordingly, to accomplish this object, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 217 

General Harrison assembled a portion of the 
Ohio militia, and uniting these with his own 
troops, and four thousand men from Kentucky, 
under Governor Shelby, by the aid of the fleet on 
Lake Erie, he reached Maiden on the 27th of 
September ; but the British, anticipating their 
approach, set fire to the store houses, and 
abandoned the fort before General Harrison 
arrived. 

2'2. The Americans pursued them, and on the 
fifth of the next month brought them to a general 
action, when, after making what resistance they 
could, the whole force surrendered to the Ameri- 
can arms. In this battle the celebrated Indian 
warrior, Tecumseh, was killed. The British 
had seventy killed and wounded : six-hundred 
were taken prisoners. The Americans lost in 
killed and wounded about fifty. The Indians 
left one hundred and twenty on the field. 

23. On the 29th of September, the Americans 
had taken possession of Detroit, as it was aban- 
doned by the enemy on the approach of Harri- 
son's army. This concluded the Indian war in 
that quarter, and General Harrison leaving Gen. 
Cass, with about one thousand men, proceeded 
with the rest of his force to join the army of the 
centre at Butlalo, in New-York ; but his ser- 
vices not being needed as an officer, in that place, 
he soon after received permission and retired 
from the army. 



218 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Progress of the war — Declaration of peace. 

1. Soon after Mr. Madison was re-elected to 
the presidency, a communication was made to 
the American government, that the emperor of 
Russia, wishing to effect a peaceable adjustment 
of the difficulties between America and Great 
Britain, had voluntarily offered his services to 
mediate between the two governments. xA.ccord- 
ingly, Messrs. Gallatin, Bayard, and J. Q. Ad- 
ams were appointed commissioners to meet any 
other commissioners who might be appointed on 
the part of Great Britain, to negotiate with them 
a treaty of peace at St. Peters burgh. 

2. The second Thursday in September, 1813, 
was observed by the people of the United States 
as a day of fasting and prayer, according to a 
previous proclamation of the president which was 
issued at the recommendation of congress, for 
this purpose. 

From the commencement of the war, the 
Creek Indians at the south had engaged in hos- 
tilities against the whites. They had been early 
incited to do so by Tecumseh, who visited them 
and persuaded them to believe that it was the 
will of the Great Spirit, that they should unite 
with the Indians at the north for the utter extir- 
pation of the whites. 

3. Against the repeated invasions of those 
savage marauders, General Jackson made a suc« 
cessful resistance. With a body of three thou- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 219 

sand five hundred mililia, from Tennessee, he 
marched into their country, and after a number 
of sanguinary conflicts, in which great numbers 
were slain on both sides, he effectually subdued 
and brought them to terms of submission. 

4. In December, 1813, the fifteenth congress 
of the United States commenced its second ses- 
sion. Among the measures adopted for the more 
vigorous prosecution of the war, laws were pass- 
ed authorizing the olfer of one hundred and 
twenty-four dollars to all soldiers who would en- 
list during the war, as a bounty, and making an 
appropriation of half a million of dollars for the 
construction of one or more steam batteries, as 
the public service might require. 

5. At the same time, a communication was 
received from the British government, in which 
they refused to comply with the proposed medi- 
ation of the emperor of Russia, but they made 
a proposition of a direct negotiation to be held 
at London or Gottenburgh. This proposal was 
acceded to by congress, and H. Clay, and J. 
Russell were appointed in addition to the other 
commissioners, who had already gone to Europe 
for the purpose of bringing about a negotiation 
at St. Petersburgh. 

6. In the beginning of 1814, the American 
frigate Essex, Commodore Porter, was captured 
after a most determined and protracted resist- 
ance, by a superior British force, in the bay of 
Valparaiso. Soon after the above event, the 
United States sloop of war Peacock fell in with 
and captured the British brig Epervier. The 



220 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

former lost one man in the action, the latter lost 
eight, beside fifteen wounded. This victory was 
followed by another which was achieved June 
28th, by the Wasp, before mentioned, over the 
British brig Reindeer. The Wasp lost twenty, 
six of her men, the Reindeer had tweniy-seven 
killed and forty-two wounded. The Wasp was 
commanded at this time by Captain Blakely, and 
in the same cruise she encountered and sunk the 
Avon, a ship of superior force. What became 
of this gallant ship, or her brave crew, after this 
was never known. 

7. The first regular pitched battle during this 
war, was fought in July of this year, at Chip- 
pewa, between General Brown and three thou- 
sand troops under his command, and about the 
same number of the enemy, commanded by 
General Riall. On the 4th General Brown left 
Fort Erie, of which he had taken possession 
the day before, and proceeded to the strong 
works behind which the British were intrench- 
ed. After some hesitancy. General Riall show- 
ed his army in the open field, and a most bloody 
and obstinate conflict ensued. The Americans 
conquered, and the enemy fled in confusion to 
their intrenchments, leaving upward of five hun- 
dred of their number dead or wounded upon the 
field. 

8. General Riall, immediately after this de- 
feat, retired to Burlington, where he was joined 
by General Drummond with a large force, and 
the army soon after commenced their return to 
the American camp. General Brown, with his 



HISTORY OF THE UMTED STATES. 221 

valiant troops, met them near the falls of Nia- 
gara, July 25th. Tlie battle began about four 
o'clock in the af(ernoon, and raged with dread- 
ful fury till midnight, when the British left the 
Americans in possession of the field. This bat- 
tie is said to have been most severe and bloody 
beyond description. The solemn roar of the 
magestic falls was often silenced by the deafen- 
ing thunder of the cannon, while the revolving 
columns and clouds of smoke obscured the pale 
moon which now and then looked out from the 
darkened heavens. Streaks and sheets of vivid 
fire, poured from the deep. mounted cannon and 
the succeeding discharges of musketry, often 
showed the position of each advancing line, and 
added a most majestic and dreadful grandeur to 
the scene. 

9. The slaughter of human life in the above 
battle was appalling in proportion to the despe- 
ration with which it was fought. The total loss 
of the British force, which amounted to some- 
thing short of five thousand, was eight hundred 
and seventy-eight. The American force num- 
bered one third less, and their loss, in killed and 
missing, amounted to eight hundred and sixty. 

About the middle of August following, the ene- 
my made an ineffectual attempt to reduce Fort 
Erie. They were repulsed with the loss of five 
hundred and eighty-two. The American loss 
was two hundred and forty-five. 

But the enemy soon after returned again to 
the siege. General Brown having now reco- 
vered from the wounds he received in the bat- 



222 HISTOIIY OF THE UlNITED STATES* 

tie at Niagara Falls, proceeded to the fort and 
took the command on the 1st of September. A 
few days after, he led out his army, scarcely 
one third as numerous as that of the enemy, 
which amounted to five thousand, and an engage- 
ment ensued in which this brave general was 
again successful. After a severe battle which 
lasted one hour, he returned to the fort, having 
lost five hundred of his men, and killed and cap. 
tured one thousand of the enemy. 

10. The movements of the British on the sea 
now began again to attract the attention of the 
nation. England, at this time, was at peace 
with all the world but the United States; her 
navy was numerous, and powerful, and nothing 
was in the way to prevent its whole force from 
being levelled against the nation which was now 
her only enemy. 

Hence, about the middle of August, 1814, a 
squadron of about sixty vessels arrived in the 
Chesapeake River, with a proportionate number 
of troops, for an attack upon the capital of the 
United States. A body of five thousand of 
them having landed, a battle was fought six 
miles from Washington, at Bladensburg. The 
Americans not finding themselves able to with- 
stand them, the enemy proceeded toward the 
city. 

11. General Ross advanced at the head of 
seven hundred men, and took possession of the 
capital ; he immediately set fire to the senate 
house, and all the public buildings, and the 
arsenal ; the navy yard, and the bridge over the 



iriSTOilV 01 THE UNITDD STATES. 223 

Potomac, were also consumed. In this expedi- 
tion the British lost no less than one thousand 
men, in killed, wounded, and missing, the Ame- 
ricans but ten or twelve. 

Their success in the capture of Washington 
now emboldened the enemy to try their arms on 
the city of Baltimore ; and on the 12th of Sept. 
General Ross landed with a body of more than 
five thousand men, at the north point, and imme- 
diately commenced his march toward the city. 
In anticipation of an attack, General Strieker 
was ordered, with three thousand troops, to im- 
pede the progress of the enemy, by General 
Smith, who commanded the American forces in 
the city. After a very spirited resistance by 
General Strieker, a part of the militia under 
him gave way ; this so weakened the hands 
of the others, that the general now deemed it 
prudent to fall back to some breastworks which 
he had left in the rear, which he did in good 
order. The Americans lost in this encounter one 
hundred and sixty-three men, among whom 
were some of the most respectable inliabitants 
of Baltimore. 

12. On the 1st of September, George Pro- 
vost, the governor general of Canada, entered 
the territories of the United States with a force 
of fourteen thousand men. The commander at 
Plattsburgh, Brigadier General Macomb, took 
measures for reinforcing his army, and made 
preparations for the reception of the enemy. On 
the 6th of September they arrived on the opposite 
side of the small river Saranac, on which the 



224 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

town of Plattsburgh is situated. The Americans 
tore up the bridge which was laid across the 
river, and commenced the erection of a tempo- 
rary breastwork, by wliich the efforts of the 
British to cross the stream were rendered 
ineffectual. 

13. The American forces on the other side 
were constantly augmented by the arrival of 
troops and militia, and the enemy finding it 
impossible to cross the river commenced the 
erection of batteries, for their own defence. At 
this time an American fleet was lying near 
Plattsburgh, in Lake Champlain, carrying eighty- 
six guns, and eight hundred and twenty-six men, 
under Commodore Macdonough. Early in the 
morning of the 11th, a British squadron, carry- 
ing ninety-five guns, and manned with one 
thousand and fifty men, under the command of 
Commodore Downie, was seen bearing down 
upon the American line. 

14. At nine o'clock, as if upon a preconcerted 
signal, the battle commenced, both upon the land 
and on the lake. In about two hours the ships 
of the enemy were silenced, and one frigate, 
one brig, and two sloops of war, fell into the 
hands of the gallant Macdonough, as a reward 
for his valour. The shout of victory which 
now reverberated over the smooth and peaceful 
lake, animated, with fresh vigour, the American 
troops upon the land. The enemy attempting 
to ford the river, a little above the village, were 
mown down with a most destructive fire from 
the militia, as often as they advanced into the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 225 

water, till their dead bodies floated in scores 
down tlie Saranac. 

15. The contest was continued, till toward 
evening tlie enemy began to ^vithdraw to their 
intrench ments, and as soon as the shades of 
liight covered them from the sight of the Ameri- 
cans, they fled to a distance of eight miles, 
leaving their sick and wounded, together witli 
large quantities of militar)' stores. The Arneri- 
cans lost, in this battle, one hundred and ten on the 
lake, and one hundred and nip.eleen on the land ; 
the British lost, on the lake, one hundred and 
ninety-four, beside a number of prisoners ; and 
on the land, including five hundred who de- 
serted, their loss amounted to two thousand 
tive hundred, 

16. We have stated before, that in some 
parts of the country considerable opposition was 
felt and manifested against this war, as it was 
deemed unjust and impolitic, and that these 
views prevailed to the greatest extent in the 
etates of New-J^ngland. The feelings of the 
people became more and more disaffected 
against the measures of the general government, 
till finally a convention was proposed, by the 
Massachusetts legislature, to consist of delegates 
from all the New-England states, the object of 
which was to take into consideration the condi- 
tion of the country, and to propose the uierm? by 
which it might be relieved from the grievances 
under which it was thought to labour. 

17. Accordingly, on the 15th of Decenjber, 
1614, delegates were coavcued in lliirtfojdj 

15 



226 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Connecticut, from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
New-Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut, 
which has since been called the " Hartford con- 
vention." They sat for three weeks in secret, 
and passed a number of resolutions expressive 
of their views and feelings. Upon their adjourn- 
ment they pubUshed an address to the people, 
in which they enumerated a list of grievances 
which were thought to bear particularly hard 
upon the inhabitants of New-England, and sug- 
gested several amendments to the constitution 
of the United States, as a preventive against the 
recurrence of similar evils in time to come. 

18. The battle of New Orleans was fought 
January 8th, 1815. Early in the December 
previous, intelligence had been received that 
about sixty sail of the enemy were off the coast, 
east of the Mississippi. Soon after, a body of 
troops was landed, to the number of fifteen 
thousand, under the command of Sir Edward 
Packenham. General Jackson being in com- 
mand at New Orleans, and anticipatmg their 
approach, took the most spirited and efficient 
measures for the defence of the city. He had 
erected a straight breastwork of one thousand 
yards, upon an even plain, below the city, 
behind which were stationed more than three 
thousand infantry and artillerists. 

19. Early in the morning of the 8th, the 
main body of the enemy, consisting of more than 
seven thousand men, were seen advancing up 
the plain, toward the American lines. Eight 
distinct batteries, having been prepared for the 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 227 

purpose by General Jackson, now opened upon 
the approaching columns a most destructive 
shower of grape shot, and strewed the field with 
the dead. As soon as they had come within 
the reach of the American musketry, and rifles, 
one unbroken stream of death swept them by 
hundreds from their ranks, and in a few moments 
they became disordered and fled. 

20. In attempting to rally them. Sir Edward 
was killed, but Generals Gibbs and Kean suc- 
ceeded in bringing the men to a second assault ; 
and the former was mortally wounded in the 
meantime, and the latter severely. They were 
repulsed the second time with a greater loss than 
before, and the well-directed fire of the Ameri- 
cans thinned their ranks in every direction, till 
finally they turned, and fled in disorder to their 
camp, leaving two thousand of their number 
either wounded or dead upon the field, while the 
killed and wounded of the Americans scarcely 
amounted to one dozen. 

21. On the 15th of the same month, the Ame- 
rican frigate President was captured by a 
British squadron ; and about the same time, the 
Constitution captured the British frigate Cyane, 
of thirty-four guns, and the Levant, a sloop of 
war, carrying eighteen guns. In the midst of the 
rejoicings which the above events occasioned, 
the news arrived of a treaty of peace having 
been concluded, at Ghent, by the commissioners, 
in December; and on the 17th of February this 
treaty was ratified by the president and senate 
of the United States. 



228 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

22. In June following a treaty of peace was 
concluded at Algiers, with the dey of that country, 
and the government of the United States. Hos- 
tilities had been commeaced by the dey of 
Algiers, in violation of his solemn treaty, three 
years before, by seizing American shipping, and 
making slaves of their crews. In one article of 
the treaty of peace concluded with Great Bri. 
tain, a stipulation was made for the abolition of 
the slave trade, in these words: " Whereas the 
traffic in slaves is irreconcilable with the princi- 
ples of humanity and juslice ; and whereas both 
his majesty and the United States are desirous 
of continuing their efforts to promote its entire 
abolition ; it is hereby agreed, that both the 
contracting parties shall use their best endea.i 
vours to accomplish so desirable an object.'* 

In December, 1815, Indiana became an inde- 
pendent state, and was admitted into the union 
by an act of congress. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

James Monroe's administration- — John Quincy Adams 
elected president. 

1. Mr. Madison's term of office having ex- 
pired, James Monroe took the oath, according to 
the constitution, and entered upon the duties of 
the presidency, March 4th, 1817. Daniel D. 
Tompkins was chosen vice president. The pre- 
sident, in his inaugural speech, took an eulight- 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 229 

ened view of the state and general prosperity of 
the country, and of the means by which it might 
be continued. 

" Had the people of the United States," said 
he, " been educated in different principles ; had 
they been less intelligent, or less virtuous, can it 
be believed that we should have maintained the 
same steady and consistent career, or been 
blessed with the same success ? While, then, 
the constituent body retains its present sound 
and healthful state, every thing will be safe. 
They will clioose competent and faithful repre- 
sentatives for every department. It is only 
when the people become ignorant and corrupt ; 
when they degenerate into a populace, that they 
are incapable of exercising the sovereignty." 

2. " Let us then," he continues, " by all wise 
and constitutional measures, promote intelligence 
among the people, as the best means of preserv- 
ing our liberties. It is peculiarly gratifying to 
me to enter upon the discharge of my official 
duties at a time when the United States are 
blessed with peace. It is a state most consist- 
ent with their prosperity and happiness. It will 
be my sincere desire to preserve it, so far as 
depends on the executive, on just principles, with 
all nations — claiming nothing unreasonable of 
any, and rendering to each what is due." 

3. In June, about three months after the pre- 
sident's inauguration, he started upon a tour 
through the states, connected with the interests 
of the nation. Congress had committed to his 
supervision the fortification of a number of 



230 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

places on the sea coast, and inland frontiers, 
and other duties relative to the navy, and for 
the faithful discharge of which, he deemed it 
necessary to obtain a knowledge of a number of 
places which could not be had without personal 
observation. He travelled east, as far as Port- 
land, and then changed his direction westward, 
to Plattsburgh, New- York. He returned to the 
capital on the 17th of September. In almost 
every place through which he passed, he 
was met by processions, formed to welcome the 
chief magistrate of the nation to the attention 
and hospitality of the people, and his presence 
was every where hailed with evident demonstra- 
tions of enthusiastic joy. 

4. In 1818 Illinois became an independent 
state, and was admitted into the union. This 
state derives its name from the principal river 
which runs through it. It was formerly a part 
of Indiana. The constitution which was adopted 
at its organization wisely prohibits the future 
introduction of slaves into the state. A success, 
ful war was carried on against the Seminole 
Indians this year by General Jackson, under 
the United States government. These Indians 
had committed various hostilities against the 
frontier inhabitants of the United States, near 
their country, under very aggravating circum- 
stances. General Jackson, having called to his 
aid a thousand volunteers from West Tennessee, 
whom he had before led to victory, at New- 
Orleans and some other places, marched against 
the Seminoles, and, after various encounters, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 231 

reduced them to subjection, and brought them to 
terms of peace. 

5. In February, 1819, a treaty was concluded 
by J. Q. Adams, on the part of the United 
States, with Louis de Onis, on the part of the 
Spanish government, by which East and West 
Florida, with all their adjacent islands, were 
ceded to the United States. During the same 
year the Arkansas Territory was erected into 
a separate government, by an act of congress ; 
and Alabama, also, was admitted into the union 
as a sovereign and independent state. The 
next year the district of Maine was separated 
from Massachusetts, and formed into a distinct 
state, and admitted into the union. Missouri 
became a state, and was admitted in 1821, 
which makes the present number of the United 
States twenty.four in all. 

6. Mr. Monroe was again elected to the 
office of chief magistrate of the nation, and he 
took the customary oath March 4th, 1821. Mr. 
Tompkins was re-elected vice president. In his 
inaugural address the president remarked : — 
" Twenty-five years ago the river Mississippi was 
shut up, and our western brethren had no outlet 
for their commerce. What has been the pro- 
gress since that time ? The river has not only 
become the property of the United States, from 
its source to the ocean, with all its tributary 
streams, with the exception of a part of the 
Red River only, but Louisiana, with a fair and 
liberal boundary on the western side, and the 
Floridas on the eastern side, have been ceded to 



232 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

US. The United States now enjoy the complete 
and uninterrupted sovereignty over the whole ter- 
ritory, from the St. Croix to the Sabine." 

7. In the spring of this year congress esta* 
blished a territorial government for the Floridas, 
and appointed General Jackson governor. In 
1822 a society Was organized in Massachusetts 
for the suppression of the slave trade. Two 
years before this, a law was enacted by congress 
for the suppression of this horrid traffic. But 
then, the penalty affixed to the transgression of 
this law, probably, more than any thing else, 
defeats the object for which it was passed. It 
ordains that, if any citizen of the United States 
shall, on a foreign shore, seize any negro or 
mulatto, not held to service in any of the terri- 
tories or states of the union, with the intent to 
make him a slave, or shall decoy or forcibly 
bring or receive him on board with such intent, 
he shall be adjudged a pirate, and on conviction 
shall suffer death. 

8. Were the penalty less severe, no doubt but 
information would be given of many instances 
where this law has been transgressed ; as it is easy 
to perceive the reluctance which all persons must 
feel against commencing a voluntary process 
against a fellow citizen which would cause him 
to be hung as a pirate. But after all, there is 
something in relation to congress and the slave 
trade upon which no friend to the general go- 
vernment, nor any person possessed of the com- 
mon sympathies of humanity, can reflect without 
pain. By the laws, the special laws of congress, 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 233 

the slave trade is tolerated in the District of 
Columbia, and over which this body has entire 
control. There, within that district, are large 
prisons for the confinement of slaves by hun- 
di'eds and thousands, and in wliich fathers, mo- 
thers, brotliers, and sisters are every day bought 
and sgIcI ! From this very district the slave 
trade is carried on by sea and by land, to many 
of the southern parts as regularly as any other 
trade whatever. And in this traffic members of 
congress themselves are sometimes engaged. — 
And yet, according to the laws of this vast re- 
public, to buy a negro in Africa, and bring him 
to this country for the purpose of enslaving him, 
is PIRACY and death ! 

9. In the summer of 1824 General La Fay- 
ette, having been invited to visit the United 
States by congress, arrived in New-York. — 
His services in the revolutionary war were re- 
membered by a grateful people, and as he tra- 
velled through the country, his presence was 
hailed with the highest sensations of gratitude 
and joy. 

The second session of the eighteenth congress 
convened in December of this year. The pre- 
sident in his speech represented the nation as 
being in a state of increasing prosperity, and our 
relation with foreign powers as of a friendly 
character. " Our revenue," he said, " under the 
mild system of impost and tonnage, continues 
to be adequate to all the purposes of government. 
Our agriculture, commerce, manufactures, and 
navigation flourish." 



234 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

10. Mr. Monroe's term of office was now 
drawing to a close, and the time arrived for an- 
other election of the chief magistrate for the 
nation. The electors having failed to make a 
choice according to the constitution, this duty- 
fell on the house of representatives. Accord, 
ingly this body on the 9th of February, 1825, 
made choice of John Q. xVdams, for the above- 
named ottice. John C. Calhoun had been pre- 
viously chosen vice president by the electors 
appointed for this purpose. Mr. Adams was 
inducted into office with the usual ceremonies 
March 4, 1825. In his speech, he described the 
source from which public officers derive their 
power, and the principles by which it should 
be used. 

11. "The will of the people," said he, "is 
the source, and the happiness of the people the 
end of all legitimate government upon earth. 
The best security for the beneficence, and the 
best guarantee against the abuse of power, con- 
sist in the freedom, the purity, and the frequency 
of popular elections. The general government 
of the union, and the separate government of 
these states, are all sovereignties of limited pow- 
ers ; fellow servants of the same masters, un. 
controlled within their respective spheres, uncon- 
trollable by encroachments upon each other. — 
The firmest security in peace is the preparation 
during peace of the defences of war." 

12. The administration of Mr. Adams was 
exceedingly unpopular, and during the time of 
his remaining in office, the country was very 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 235 

much torn and distracted with pohtical dissen- 
sions, into the particulars of which, however, it 
is not necessary for us to enter here. 

On the 4th of July, 1826, occurred the fiftieth 
anniversary of American independence. Great 
pains were taken throughout the country to ren- 
der this day an occasion of special interest and 
unusual rejoicings, and before it closed, an 
event occurred which rendered it memorable in- 
deed. This was the death of two of the ex-pre- 
sidents of the United States, Jefferson and 
Adams. They were among the signers of that 
noted paper which just fifty years before gave a 
political existence to this great nation, and exalt- 
ed a few feeble colonies to a dignified station 
among the governments of the earth. A half a 
century these venerable patriots were permitted 
to live in the enjoyment of the blessings wliich 
they, with others, procured at the expense of so 
much toil and labour, and then, on that glorious 
day, without any violence, they were suffered to 
sleep in death, "being old and full of days." 

13. With this year we take our leave of the 
history of the United States. In contemplating 
the scenes and events recorded in the foregoing 
pages, how many interesting reflections crowd 
upon the mind. We commenced at a time when 
man had just begun to rise above the shackles 
of religious and political superstition, and we 
have seen them, guided by the lights of science 
and virtue, from small causes and beginnings, 
accomphshing events the most astonishing of 
any recorded in the annals of the world. 



23G HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

14. It cannot be too distinctly impressed upon 
the minds of tlie youth especially, that if this 
nation is distinguished above others for the civil 
and religious blessiiigs which it enjoys, it is re- 
ligion and educalion which have combined to 
make it so. It therefore becomes the duty of 
all to multiply and spread, as far as they are 
able, the means of diflbsing the lights of science 
and religion. Upon every citizen, upon every 
father, mother, and child, most solemn and fear- 
fnl responsibilities are imposed by the privileges 
and mercies we enjoy. To neglect these respon- 
sibilities, is to sin against God, and expose our- 
selves and our country to his dreadful displea- 
sure. To fulfil them should constitute our 
highest pleasure. Let us sacredly regard the 
holy Sabbath, banish profaneness and immorali- 
ty, and not render ourselves unworthy of the 
trust committed to our charge ; — if we are faith- 
ful the world is free ! 



QUESTIONS. 



DEDICATION. 

For whose particular benefit was this history writ, 
ten? 

Can you think of any thing in relation to this coun- 
try, as to its governnient or any tiling else, iu which 
it differs materially from other countries ? 

What should you not forget ? 

AVliat is a truth of equal importance ? 

Do you desire to be good ? 

Wherein do those who are good differ from others 
who are not gaod ? 

Do you desire to do good ? 

W^hat has our Creator done for us that we may se- 
cure both our own good and the good of others ? 

For what do these means qualify you ? 

What is a peculiar misfortune in relation to any 
one ? 

W'hy is it so ? 

Are you willing to grow up in ignorance ? 

What should we do that we may not grow up in 
ignorance ? 

May your teachers and parents hope this of you ? 

What should young people do that they may qualify 
themselves to be useful members of society? 

What painful truth may we be constrained to say, 
if we neglect the means of instruction while we are 
young ? 

As this book has been written expressly for you, are 
you not, therefore, under greater obligations to read 
and study it ? 

Will you promise me now that you will strive to do 
this ? 

Will you give your heart to God and pray for his 
blessing in all your studies ? 



238 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



INTRODUCTION. 

1. What is history ? 

What does it set before the reader's mind ? 

With what does it present us which is worthy of 

our imitation ? 
Against what does it warn us ? 

2. What other things may be traced on the page of 

the faithful historian ? 
What may we learn from it ? 

3. What do the people of these United States enjoy ? 
What inference may we draw from this ? 

Why should we acquaint ourselves with the means 
that have made this nation what it is? 



CHAPTER I. 

What is the subject of this chapter ? 

1. What circumstance led to the discovery of America ? 
When were these attempts made ? 

Was the continent of America ever known to any 

of the ancients before this time ? 
What had the Portuguese attempted before this ? 
Were they successful ? 

2. What circumstances led Christopher Columbus to 

seek a passage to the East Indies by sailing west ? 

3. Where was Columbus born ? 
Of what nation was he ? 

What difficulties did he meet with in commencing 
his first voyage ? 

4. Who granted him the help which he sought ? 
From what place did he sail ? 

When did he set sail on his first voyage of discovery ? 

With how many vessels ? 

What were their names ? 

With how many men did he sail ? 

5. How soon after did he stop at the Canary Islands ? 
Where do these islands lie ? 

By what event were the mariners soon after alarmed 1 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 239 

What did Columbus do on that occasion ? 
How were the crews affected soon after this ? 
What did some of them propose to do ? 
How were they pacified ? 

6. When was land first discovered by Columbus ? 
How were the crews affected by this discovery ? 
When did they land ? 

How were the natives affected by what they saw ? 

7. Who stepped first upon the shore ? 

How did they testify the joy which they felt on 

landing? 
How did Columbus tak^ possession of the place 

where he landed ? 
By what name did he call it ? 
What did the natives call it ? 

8. Whence did Columbus proceed after this ? 
What discovery did he make October 27th ? 
When did he discover Hayti ? 

What did he call this place ? 

What misfortune befell him there ? 

How were the natives affected with this calamity ? 

What did they do ? 

9. When did Columbus set sail on his return to Spain ? 
What do you observe worthy of notice in the con- 
duct of Columbus and his crew when they were 
overtaken by a severe storm ? 

T'o what expedient did Columbus resort to prevent 
the loss of his discoveries ? 

10. When did he arrive at Palos ? 

How was he received by his king and queen ? 

To what important event did the fame of this voyage 

lead? 
By whom was the continent of America discovered ? 
Of what nation were they? 
For what purpose was the voyage undertaken which 

resulted in this discovery ? 
From whom did Cabot, the elder, receive a commis. 

sion for this voyage ? 
When did they discover Newfoundland ? 
When did they first discover St. Johns ? 
From what circumstance did they give it this name? 



240 HISTOllY QF THE UNITED STATES. 

What course did they take after this ? 

Upon what circumstance did the government of 

England claim the eastern portion of North Ame- 

rica ? 

11. What effect did the news of the above voyage have 

in Europe ? 
Who next undertook a voyage to the new world ? 
Who accompnnied Ojeda in his voyage? 
What circumstance led to the calling this continent 

by the naine of America 7 

12. When was the first attempt made to settle a colo- 

ny within the present bounds of the United States ? 
What gave rise to this Hrst attempL ? 
By whom was it planned ? 
Where did they land ? 
Was the effort successful ? 

13. Can you mention some of the circumstances of 
the ships sent to America by Sir W. Raleigh ? 

What led Queen Elizabeth to call the section which 
they visited Virginia ? 

14. By what new route did Gosnold sail for America 

in 1602? 
What discoveries did he make ? 



CHAPTER 11. 

1. When was the first permanent settlement effected 

within the limits of the United States? 
How was this effected ? 
Where did this company- finally land ? 
What did they call the river on which they landed ? 
What did they call the place where they commenoed 

a settlement ? 

2. What have you to observe concerning the govern- 

ment of this colony ? 
6, With what calamities were they very sooji afflicted ? 
4. What have you to remark concerning an adventure 
of Captain Smith ? 
What was reprehensible in his conduct ? 
To what danger did this expose him ? 



HISTORY OF THE Urv'ITED STATES. 241 

5. What death was he doomed to suffer ? 
What circumstance saved his life ? 

6. Is it known that the savages of this country were 

unkind to strangers without a previous provoca- 
tion ? 

What was their disposition toward such as approach- 
ed them as friends ? 

How did they receive Captain Newport and his com- 
pany ? 

7. What liave you to observe concerning an attempt 

to settle a colony near the Kennebec River in 
1607? 

8. What measures were taken for increasing the Vir- 

ginia colony in 1609 ? 
What plan was laid for the destruction of this colony 

about this time ? 
What prevented its execution ? 
What induced the natives to form this plan ? 
What have you to observe concerning the conduct 

of Pocahontas on that occasion ? 
What calamities afflicted the Virginia colony in 

1606? 

9. What method did Captain Argal make use of to 

bring Powhatan, the Indian king, to terms of 

peace ? 
Did he succeed in this ? 
How was peace finally brought about ? 
What have you to observe concerning Pocahontas 

after this ? 

10. By whom was Albany first settled ? 
When was its settlement commenced ? 

When did they commence the settlement of New- 
York ? 

What was the place previously called ? 

How came a certain section of this country to be 
called New-England ? 

11. What do you observe worthy of notice here ? 
What event occurred about this time which ought 

never to be forgotten ? 
What does a certain author say concerning this 
event ? 

18 



242 HISTORY OF TUE UNITED STATES. 

Would you be willing to be bought and sold as a 

slave ? 
Can it be right, then, in the sight of God, for any 

human being to be so bought and sold ? 
Ought we not to pity and pray for those of our fel- 

low beings who are held in slavery ? 
And should we not also pity and pray for those who 

hold them in this state ? 



CHAPTER III. 

1. In what does it seem that every American will feci 

a peculiar interest ? 
Why so ? 
What do we find in this chapter ? 

2. When was the first permanent settlement formed in 

New-England ? 
By what sect was this settlement formed ? 
What have you to remark concerning this sect ? 

3. What did the company do which is worthy of no- 

tice, after they arrived, and before any went on 

shore ? 
When did they all land ? 
By what name did they call the place where they 

landed ? 
With what distressing calamitiy were they afflicted 

soon after they arrived ? 

4. What was done in Virginia about this time for the 

cause of education ? 
What was done for the support of the Gospel ? 

5. What calamity befell the Virginia colony in the 

spring of 1G22 ? 

What gave rise to this massacre ? 

What fact is acknowledged by all who have atten- 
tively studied the history of this country ? 

What were some of the particulars of the above- 
named calamity ? 

6. What circumstances led to the appointment of a 

day of public fasting and prayer in the Plymouth 
colony ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 243 

What led to the appointment of a day of thanksgiv- 
ing ? 
What settlements were commenced about this time ? 

7. When was the first settlement commenced by the 

Massachusetts colony ? 
Where was this commenced ? 
What place was settled the next year 
When was the settlement of New-Hampshire begun ? 

8. What other settlements were commenced in 1630? 
What do you observe concerning the sufferings of 

the people in New-England during the winter of 
this year ? 

9. What laws were passed about this time in the Mas- 

sachusetts colony respecting tobacco ? 
Does it not appear to you as a very pernicious and 

filthy habit for one to use this noxious weed in 

any way ? 
IIow may we account for these and some other laws 

passed by the colonists about this time ? 

10. How and where was the first settlement effected 
in Connecticut ? 

By whom and under what circumstances was the 
colony of Rhode-Island settled ? 



CHAPTER IV. 

1. For what is the year 1637 remarkable in the history 

of the colonies in North America ? 
Can you detail the circumstances under which this 
war was commenced ? 

2. What hostilities were committed by the Pequods in 

the spring of this year ? 

What measures did the colonists adopt for their de- 
fence ? 

Can you mention the particulars of Captain Mason's 
expedition ? 

3. What were the particulars of another victory gain- 

ed over the Indians by Captain Stoughton ? 

4. What colony was settled in the spring of 1638? 
What college was commenced this year ? 



244 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

When was the province of Maryland first settled ? 
When was the commonwealth of Connecticut 

formed ? 
How was the province of Maine formed ? 

5. What have you to remark concerning New-Eng. 

land about this time ? 

6. When was a confederacy formed between the New- 

England colonies ? 
What circumstances led to this measure ? 
What have you to observe concerning this confede. 

racy? 

7. For what is the year 1644 memorable? 
What is stated in the preamble to this law ? 
What order was passed by the general court of Mas- 
sachusetts in 1645, relating to the case of a slave ? 

8. When were the preparations for the New-Haven 

college commenced ? 
What is worthy of remark ? 
What measures were taken against the Quakers by 

the Massachusetts colony in 1656? 
What reasons may be assigned for these severities? 

9. When was the Connecticut colony constituted a 

body politic ? 
When was this done for Rhode-Island ? 
What provision was made in Virginia about this 

time to promote the cause of education ? 
What is stated in the preamble to the act passed for 

the erection of a college in that colony ? 
What have you to observe concerning an act of 

parliament which took effect about this time ? 

10. What do you remark concerning the settlement 

of Carolina ? 

11. What remarkable event occurred in January, 1663, 

in the northern parts of America ? 
Can you describe some of the particulars concern, 
ing it ? 

CHAPTER V. 

1. What made it an object of desire with King Cbaxles 
II. to dispossess the Dutch of New- York ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 245 

How did he accomplish this desire ? 

On what conditions did the governor surrender ? 

What had the place been called before this ? 

2. From what circumstance was a certain section call- 

ed New-Jersey ? 
What change took place in Delaware about this 

time ? 
When did the Connecticut and New-Haven colonies 

become united ? 
When did New-York become an incorporated city ? 
What remarkable law was passed in Rhode-Island 

about this time ? 

3. When did the Dutch retake New-York ? 
When was it restored again to the English ? 
When was the first Dutch settlement commenced 

within the limits of Carolina ? 

4. What have you observed as you have advanced thus 

far in this history ? 
In what did the prosperity of the colonies appear ? 
What effect did all this produce upon the possessions 

and feelings of the natives? 

5. What determination was fixed on by the Indians ? 
By what name was this war known ? 

Why was it so called ? 

By what circumstances was it begun ? 

How many warriors was King Philip able at this 

time to bring against the whites ? 
When and under what circumstances were the first 

hostilities commenced ? 

6. What were the next events which occurred ? 

7. What do you observe concerning the situation of 

the people at that time ? 

8. What occurred during this summer? 

Can you give the particulars of the melancholy fate 
which befell Captain Lothrop and his men ? 

9. Where was a decisive battle fought December 19, 

1675? 
What were the particulars of it ? 

10. How many Indians were slain in the above fight ? 
How many taken prisoners ? 

What was the general reerult of this battle ? 



246 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

What circumstance finally put an end to the contest ? 
How many of the inhabitants of New-England were 

slain during this war ? 
How much property was destroyed by the Indians ? 



CHAPTER VI. 

1. In what new troubles did the New-England colonies 

find themselves involved about this time ? 

2. How were these acts considered by the colonies ? 
Why were they considered so ? 

How was the discontent of the people in Virginia 

manifested ? 
Who took the lead in this rebellion ? 
What means did he take to eifect his purposes ? 

3. What happened to Jamestown in this contest ? 
What befell Bacon soon after ? 

What means were taken by the colonists for the 
purpose of conciliating the favour of parliament 1 
Did these means succeed ? 

4. When was New-Hampshire formed into a distinct 

colony ? 
What city was founded during the same year ? 
When was Pennsylvania founded ? 
By whom was it founded ? 

From what circumstance does it take its name ? 
When was the plan laid for the city of Philadelphia ? 

5. What was done in Massachusetts in 1682 for the 

adjustment of the difficulties with the king? 
Who descended the Mississippi River this year? 
What did he do ? 
What calamity befell the Massachusetts colony in 

1684? 
What did the other colonies fear? 
What did they do to prevent this ? 

6. What rendered the prospect of the New-England 

colonies so dark and gloomy ? 
What was the consequence of similar proceedings 
against the other colonies as those which had de- 
prived Massachusetts of her charter ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 247 

What noted character arrived in Boston in 1686 ? 

What was the object of his coming ? 

What measures did he take in relation to the affairs 
of the colony ? 
7. How did he attempt to deprive the people of Con 
necticut of their liberties ? 

How was he prevented from taking away their 
charter ? 

What did this man do the next year in Massachu- 
setts ? 

Could he have been a good man when he acted 
thus? 

What other measures increased the sufferings of the 
people ? 

Who may we believe interposed for their deliverance ? 



CHAPTER VII, 

1. What do you observe concerning the facts which 

are narrated in the foregoing pages ? 
What inferences may we draw from this considera- 
tion? 

2. Over how long a period does the previous history 

extend ? 

What was the state of this continent at the com- 
mencement of this period ? 

How did it appear when contrasted with the above 
state at the end of two hundred years after 
this? 

3. What was the number of the natives at this time ? 
What have you to remark concerning their tribes, 

chiefs, and councils ? 
For what are the western Indians remarkable even 
to this day ? 

4. Wliat have you to say of the persons of the natives 

of this country ? 
Of their clothing? 
Of their habitations ? 

5. What may be said concerning their skill in the arts 

and sciences ? 



248 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Of their food ? 

Of the manner in which they spent their time? 

6. Wliat may be said of their peculiar characteristics, 

views, feelings, «Scc ? 
Can you mention some instances to prove this ? 
How was the death of King Philip viewed at the 

time it happened ? 
What effect has time produced on those feelings and 

views ? 
What other reflections does the contemplation of 

King Philip's character suggest ? 

7. Wliat reflections are suggested in contemplating 

the fate which has attended the aborigines of this 
continent ? 

8. To what number had the colonists increased at the 

end of two hundred years from their first settle. 

ment in this country ? 
What do you observe concerning the peculiar traits 

of character in the first settlers of this country? 
What blessings do we now enjoy as the fruit of 

their labours ? 



CHAPTER VIII. 

1. What important event took place in Boston in the 
spring of 1689 ? 

What led to this measure ? 
Q. What was now done by some of the colonies? 

What turn did things take in New. York ? 

3. What singular deinsion broke out in Massachusetts 

in the year 1692? 

What is admitted by all sincere believers in the 
Bible ? 

Is there any evidence to prove that the views of 
many people at that time who believed in witch- 
craft were correct ? 

4. How did this delusion originate ? 

By what means was it spread abroad ? 
What lamentable consequences followed ? 

5. By what simple procejss were many who believed 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 249 

in this delusion brought to their senses in relation 

to this subject ? 
What changes soon after took place ? 
What is recorded of one of the Churches which had 

been afflicted with tliis delusion ? 
Is it at all likely that any one would be affected 

with a delusion in which he really did not be- 

lieve ? 

6. What circumstance involved France and England 

in war about this time ? 
What are the particulars of an expedition fitted out 
soon after by the governor of Canada against 
New-York ? 

7. What of the expedition of the French against Sal- 

mon Falls? 
What measures were soon after adopted by the 

colonies for their defence? 
What expedition was fitted out by Massachusetts? 
,8. By what name was this war known ? 
How long was it continued ? 
Describe some of the barbarities committed during 

this war. 

9. What act was passed in 1694 by the Massachusetts 

legislature, worthy of notice? 
When was Yule College founded ? 
What reasons were assigned fbr establishing this 

college ? 

10. What remarks are made here which are worthy of 

being remembered? 
Who have been the guardians of education ? 
What will a minister of tlie Gospel do who has the 

advantages of education himself? 

11. To what means is it possible Massachusetts owes 

her exemption from the evils of the slavery sys- 
tem? 



CHAPTER IX, 

L What circumstances again involved the American 
colonies in war soon after 1702 ? 



250 HISTORY or THE UKITED STATES. 

2. Describe the assault which the Indians made on 

Deerfield in February, 1704. 

3. Describe the fate which befell Mr. Williams and 

his family. 

4. By whom was Carolina invaded in 1706 ? 
Describe the expedition fitted out against Port 

Royal. 

5. Describe the expedition which was fitted out 

against this place in 1710. 

6. How long did this war continue ? 

What important event occurred soon after in Caro- 
lina? 

7. What consequences followed ? 

By what means were these calamities averted ? 

8. What circumstances led to the division of Caro- 

lina ? 
By what names are the two parts into which Caro- 
lina was divided now called ? 

9. What do you observe concerning the eastern In- 

dians about this time ? 

10. When was the settlement of Georgia begun ? 
What particulars in the early management of this 

colony are worthy of notice ? 
What have you to observe concerning the visit of 
the Rev. Messrs. John and Charles Wesley to this 
colony ? 

11. What colonies made up the number of what after- 
ward became the thirteen United States ? 

12. Describe the expedition of General Oglethorp 
against St. Augustine in the war of England 
against Spain. 

13. How did this expedition eventuate? 

Describe the expedition of the Spanish against 
Georgia in 1742. 

14. What stratagem was contrived by Oglethorp, and 

how did it succeed. 
Can any expedient justify one's telling a lie ? 

15. What is the next important event in this history ? 
When was it declared ? 

What have you to observe concerning the town of 
Louisbourg ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 251 

Describe the expedition which was now fitted out 
against it. 

16. What advantages were derived from its capture ? 
How did the loss of this place affect the French ? 
Describe the attempt which they made soon after 

upon New-England. 

17. When was this war concluded ? 

How long a period of time is embraced in the events 

narrated in this chapter ? 
What will suggest the allowance it is proper to 

make for the evils in which the colonies were so 

much involved during this time ? 



CHAPTER X. 

1. What circumstances led to a declaration of war 

again between England and France ? 

2. What is painful in tracing the history of any coun- 

try? 
What may be useful to us ? 
How so ? 

3. What measures were taken in the colonies for car- 

rying on this war ? 

4. In what attempt were the French successful while 

the English were hesitating what to do ? 
Describe the expedition of Colonel Armstrong 
against the Indians on the Ohio River. 

5. How was Fort William Henry captured ? 
With what disgraceful event was it followed ? 

6. What rendered the prospects of the colonies discou- 

raging in 1758 ? 
What circumstances soon after effected a change in 

their prospects ? 
What measures were adopted for their defence ? 

7. To what places were expeditions now proposed ? 
Describe the one against Louisbourg. 

8. Describe that against Ticonderoga. 

9. Describe the attempt made against Fort Frontenac. 

10. What are the particulars of that against Fort Du 

Quesne ? 



252 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

What was this place afterward called ? 
11. What important event took place about this time ? 
In what were the colonies successful in 1758 ? 



CHAPTER XL 

1. With what year do the events described in this 

chapter commence ? 
What plans had been laid for the conquestof Canada? 

2. Who commanded the army in North America this 

year ? 
What measures did he now take against the French ? 

3. How did the expedition succeed against Niagara ? 

4. What daring enterprize was undertaken about this 

time by General Wolfe ? 
Can you describe the situation of Quebec and the 
reasons which rendered it almost impregnable ? 

5. How did General Wolfe succeed in his attempts to 

reduce this place ? 

6. Can you give the prominent features of the battle 

in which General Wolfe was killed ? 

7. What were the results of this battle ? 

8. Describe the effort which the French made in the 

spring of 1760 to regain Quebec. 

9. Wliat important project was next planned and ex- 

ecuted against the French by General Amherst ? 

10. What events occurred about this time in Virginia ? 
What happened in relation to the French armament 

fitted out this year for the aid of Canada ? 

11. How long was this war continued? 

What have you to observe with regard to the loss of 
property and lives which it occasioned ? 

What feelings did its termination produce among 
the people ? 

How were these feelings testified ? 

12. What soon afler occurred to interrupt this tide of 

general joy ? 
Describe some of the savage hostilities, and how 
they were terminated. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 253 



CHAPTER XII. 

1. Over what scenes have we passed in the preceding 

chapters ? 
Why was the thought of these scenes tolerable when 

compared with others with which they were fol- 

lowed? 
What feelings were indulged by the colonies up to 

this period toward the mother country ? 
What remark was made by Dr. Franklin to this 

effect ? 

2. Who was Pownal ? 

What is the substance of his testimony on this point? 

3. How must the people have been affected at thoughts 

of a separation from the mother country ? 
What intention of England became known here soon 

after the peace with France ? 
What important question was discussed and decided 

in the British parliament ? 
What oppressive act was passed in this parliament 

soon after ? 

4. How were these colonies affected by these mea- 



sures 



Why were these measures on the part of Great Bri- 
tain cruel and unjust ? 

Detail some of the means made use of by the peo. 
pie to express their disapprobation of these mea- 
sures. 

5. How was the British parliament affected with the 

petitions and remonstrances of the colonies against 
these measures ? 
What act was passed in 1765, by parliament ? 

6. What is the substance of the concluding remarks 

of Colonel Barre, which were made against the 
passage of this act ? 

7. What did he wish the British parliament particu- 

larly to remember ? 

8. What means were adopted by some of the colo- 

nies to oppose this act, and prevent it from being 
carried into effect ? 



254 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Who distinguished himself in opposing the above 
act in the general assembly of Virginia ? 

9. What general measure was now adopted by the 

colonies ? 

10. What did this congress do ? 

11. What measures were taken by the populace to ex- 

hibit their indignation against these acts of par- 
liament ? 

12. How were the people affected when the day arrived 
for the stamp act to take effect ? 

13. What kind of associations were formed about this 

time among the people ? 
How did the measures adopted by these arisociations 
operate on the commercial interests of many in 
England ? 

14. W^hen was the stamp act repealed ? 

What other offensive act was previously pas.sed ? 

15. Do you remember any thing concerning a good 
man who took a deep interest in behalf of the 
colonies about this time ? 

What was his name ? 

What is the substance of some remarks which he 
made in the British parliament in their defence ? 

16. How did one reply to these remarks? 

17. What is the substance of Mr. Pitt's reply ? 

18. How were the joy and gratitude of the colonies 
manifested when this act was repealed ? 



CHAPTER XIII. 

What other oppressive acts were passed by the 
British parliament in 1767 ? 

How did the passage of these acts affect the colo- 
nies ? 
What did they do about them ? 

How were their petitions and memorials treated by 

the British government ? 
What means were now adopted by the king to pre. 
vent resistance to these offensive laws in Boston? 

What is sufficiently evident ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 255 

How does this appear ? 

5. What serious affair took place in Boston in March 

1770? 

What were the circumstances which led to this ca- 
tastrophe ? 

How were the people affected by it ? 

How were the feelings of the people manifested ? 

6. What did the lieutenant governor do ? 
State what followed in the town of Boston. 

7. How far were the offensive acts of parliament re- 

pealed about this time ? 
What reasons were assigned for this partial repeal ? 

8. What event occurred in Rhode Island in the sum- 

mer of 1772? 

9. What measure was adopted generally throughout 

the colonies, in the fall of this year, which result- 
ed in good to the colonies ? 

10. What plan was now fixed on by the British go. 
vernment to test the laws of taxation? 

11. What followed the passage of this act ? 

What expedient was fixed on in each of the places 
to which the tea was to be sent, to prevent the 
duty from being paid on it ? 

How did this plan succeed ? 
1-i. How did the good people in Boston dispose of the 
tea which was sent to them ? 

1 3. VVliat colony was thought to be the most guilty by 
parliament in resisting her measures ? 

What means were adopted to punish that colony ? 

14. What effect did these measures of parliament have 

upon the colonies ? 

Give the substance of a resolution adopted by the 
town of Boston in relation to them. 

How was the conduct of the people in Boston view- 
ed in the other colonies ? 

15. How was the day observed when the Boston port 
act was to go into effect ? 

What did the ministers of the Gospel do on that 

trying occasion ? 
What effect did their pious labours have upon the 

people of these times ? 



256 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

1. What general plan of operation was proposed by 

the Massachusetts legislature in June, 1774? 

2. When did the deputies meet ? 
Where? 

How was that meeting organized ? 
What was set forth in their bill of rights ? 
What is the sense of the resolutions which they 
passed ? 

3. Upon what farther measures did they agree ? 
What effect did these measures have upon the peo* 

pie in the colonies ? 
Give the substance of what Lord Chatham said con- 
cerning the papers sent to parliament from Ame- 
rica. 

4. What did General Gage do to prepare for the crisis 

which he saw approaching ? 
What effect did his movements have on the people 
in the vicinity where these things were done ? 

5. What are the particulars of the meeting of the 

Massachusetts assembly which convened in Con- 
cord in the fall of this year ? 

6. What important step was taken by this assembly 

at its next meeting in November ? 
What measures were in operation at the south dur- 
ing this while ? 

7. What did Mr. Pitt do in 1775 ? 

What was done at the same time by parliament ? 

8. What important resolution was passed by the Mas- 

sachusetts congress in February of this year ? 

9. What purpose was now formed by General Gage ? 
What measures did he take for the accomplishment 

of this purpose ? 
Describe the events which followed at Lexington. 

10. What course did the British toops take afler this 
affair ? 

Describe what took place between them and the 

American militia. 
How many men were lost on both sides in this en- 

counter ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 257 

11. What was done soon after to set the above affair 
in its true light ? 

What determination was expressed to the king ? 

12. What means were now adopted by the Americans 

for self defence ? 
What project was formed and executed ? 

13. What did the Americans now apprehend from 

some movements of General Gage ? 
What precautions did they take ? 
When was the redoubt thrown up on Breed's Hill ? 
How many men were in this place when the enemy 

commenced their attack ? 

14. How many of the British were marched against it ? 
Give me the chief particulars of this noted battle. 

15. What measures were taken by the British officers 

to rally their men the second time ? 
How did they succeed in the second assault ? 
What was the loss sustained by the enemy in this 

engagement ? 
What was the loss of the Americans ? 
What are the names of some of the American offi. 

cers who were killed in that battle ? 

16. What farther measures were adopted by the conti- 

nental congress which was in session about this 

time ? 
How many colonies were represented in this con- 

gress ? 
Whom did this congress choose to be commander. 

in-chief over the American forces ? 
What declaration was made and published from this 

congress ? 

17. Give the substance of one paragraph from this 

declaration. 

18. Give me the substance of the paragraph here 
quoted. 

19. What reasons are assigned here for their confidence 

in their cause ? 

20. What are the concluding sentiments expressed in 
this declaration ? 

21. What other resolution was passed by this body 
which deserves notice ? 

\1 



258 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

How does it appear tliat the members of that con- 
gress were men who feared God ? 

What did they say at the close of the declaration 
mentioned before ? 
22. What have you to observe concerning the move, 
nients of General Washington soon after this con- 
gress gave him the command of the American 
army ? 



CHAPTER XV. 

1. What expedition was fitted out in the latter part 

of 1775? 
How was it conducted ? 
How did it succeed? 

2. What measures were taken to reduce Quebec ? 
What were some of the hardships endured by the 

company of Colonel Arnold? 

3. How did Montgomery succeed in the attempt to 

reduce Quebec ? 
What important events occurred about this time in 
Virginia ? 

4. What did the governor next do ? 

When did the British government cease in these 

colonies ? 
What was done this year by the continental con- 

gress ? 

5. What plan was now fixed on by General Washing. 

ton? 
What was the object in this enterprise ? 

6. How were the British aflfected with what they saw 

the Americans had done ? 
What did they now resolve to do ? 
Vv^ien did they leave Boston, and how many were 

there of them ? 
What did Washington do upon this event ? 

7. Describe the attempt made on the fort upon Sulli- 

van's Island by the enemy, and how it succeeded. 

8. How did the Americans distinguish themselves in 

that engagement ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 259 

What are the particulars of Sergeant Gasper's hero- 
ism ? 

9. For what purpose did the Americans first take up 

arms against the British ? 
What were their professions at that time ? 
What served to work a change in the minds of the 

people ? 

10. What other circumstances gave the Americans a 
good idea of a republican form of government, 
and inspired them with a desire for independ- 
ence ? 

What important event followed in the continental 
congress on the 8th of June, 1776 ? 

What was said by Mr. Lee in support of his resolu- 
tion ? 

11. What took place on the 11th of June in this con- 
gress ? 

What memorable event took place on the 4th of 
July? 

12. Give the substance of some things which are set 

forth in this able paper. 

Do you really believe that all men are created free 
and EQUAL? 

Can any one who sincerely believes that God has 
created all men free and equal, and that he has 
endowed them with the unalienable right of life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, consistently 
hold property in man, or continue to hold a hu- 
man being as a slave ? 

13. What are some of the particulars farther set forth 

in this declaration ? 

14. How was this event received throughout the colo- 

nies ? 
What are some of the reflections which are natu- 
rally suggested by this event ? 

15. What may be observed of the government which 
this event served to establish ? 

What peculiar duties do the blessings which we en- 
joy impose upon us ? 



260 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

1. What object now attracted the attention of Genera- 

Washington ? 
How large was the American army now in the vici- 
nity of New-York ? 

2. What movements were made by the enemy about 

this time ? 

3. Describe the battle which was fought on the 27th 

of August, and tell me how it terminated. 

4. Give some account of the conference which was 

held, soon after the above battle, between Lord 
Howe and a committee from congress. 

5. What are some of the particulars of a battle which 

was fought in the following September ? 

6. What prevented Washington from engaging the 

enemy in a general battle on the 28th of October ? 

7. What are the particulars of the attack which was 

made on Fort Washington, November 16th? 
What course did Washington take after he left 
Newark ? 

8. What were some of the circumstances under which 

this retreat was conducted ? 

9. What heightened the general distress of the army? 
How did Washington's conduct influence his army ? 
What bold enterprise was executed on the 25th De- 
cember by Washington and his army ? 

With what success did he meet on the first of Janu- 
ary, 1777 ? 

10. What important resolution was passed by congress 

at the close of 1776 ? 

11. What advice did this venerable body give to the 
army and people of the United States ? 

12. What were the particular features of the articles 

of confederation adopted this year by congress ? 



CHAPTER XVII. 

1. What other measures were adopted by congress for 
the defence of the colonies ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 261 

2. What was the state of the American army at this 

time ? 
What were some of the sufferings which they en- 
dured ? 

3. Describe some of the sufferings of the American 

prisoners of war. 

4. Describe some of the movements of the two armies 

in the spring of 1777. 

5. What are the particulars of the battle which was 

fought on the 11th of September? 

6. What foreign officers fought for the Americans in 

this battle ? 

7. What events had transpired before this in the north ? 

8. What plan was formed in England ? 
What was its object? 

What measures were taken for its execution ? 
What event soon followed these measures ? 

9. What course did Burgoyne next take ? 

10. What battle was fought on the 16th of August of 
this year, near Bennington, Vermont ? 

How was it brought about, and what was its result ? 

11. What effect did this victory produce on the minds 

of the Americans ? 
What are the particulars of the next battle which 
was fought ? 

12. Another engagement soon followed, how did this 
terminate ? 

13. What was the situation of Burgoyne's army at this 
time ? 

14. What important event took place on October 17th, 

1777? 
How did it affect the friends of America ? 

15. Describe the battle fought at Germantown. 

16. What events followed soon afler? 

17. Describe some of the calamities which General 
Washington's army suffered in their winter quar- 
ters this year. 

Do we realize how dearly the liberties were pur- 
chased which we now enjoy ? 

18. What pious resolutions were passed by congress 
this year ? 



262 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

1. What influence did the events of 1777 have upon 

the minds of many in Europe ? 
How were some of the British parliament affected ? 

2. What means were now adopted by the British mi- 

nistry to conciliate the colonies ? 
What wicked attempt was made on a Mr. Reed ? 
What did he say to them ? 

3. What did England do on learning that France had 

united with the United States ? 
Describe the battle which was fought at Monmouth. 
What loss was sustained on each side ? 

4. What operations were carried on in Rhode Island 

in July of the year 1778 ? 

5. What course was taken by the French commander ? 

6. What induced General Sullivan to raise the siege 

of Rhode Island? 
What led him to retreat from the island ? 

7. Describe the attempt which was now made to re- 

duce Georgia. 

8. Describe some of the barbarities committed by the 

British upon the American people this year. 
Who were the tories ? 
Did they assist in committing these barbarities ? 

9. Describe the attack which was made on Wyoming. 
Where were similar atrocities committed ? 
Describe the massacre of Colonel Baylor's regiment. 

10. What are the particulars of the expedition which 

the enemy conducted against Savannah in No- 
vember of this year ? 

11. What extraordinary project was planned and exe- 

cuted during the above siege ? 

12. How were the prisoners secured ? 

13. What expedition was fixed on by the British in 

1779? 
How was it executed ? 

14. What depredations were committed by Governor 
Tyron on the people of Connecticut ? 

15. Detail a few particulars. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 263 

16. How and by whom was the fortress at Stony Point 

reduced ? 

17. Give some of the particulars. 

18. What expedition was ordered in August of this 
year ? 

How did it succeed ? 

19. What naval engagement was fought in September 

on the coast of Scotland ? 

20. What are some of the particulars of this battle? 

21. What was the situation of the American army 

during the winter of this year? 



CHAPTER XIX. 

1. What expedition was undertaken at the close of 

1779? 

2. Who commanded the American forces at the south 

at this time ? 
What request did the people of Charleston make of 

him ? 
How was the siege commenced and carried on ? 

3. How did this siege terminate ? 

4. What measures were taken by the enemy after the 

capture of Charleston ? 
How were Colonel Buford and his men cut off? 

5. What effect did these cruelties have upon many 

people ? 
W ho superseded General Lincoln at the south ? 
What did General Gates now do ? 

6. What was the result of the battle fought at Cam- 

den, August 16th ? 

7. What have you to observe concerning some attacks 

made upon General Sumpter ? 

8. Describe the attempt which the British made upon 

New Jersey, in June of this year. 

9. What was the state of Washington's army during 

the winter of 1780 ? 

10. By what general means was the nation afflicted? 
How was this calamity borne by some ? 



264 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

11. How did Benedict Arnold attempt to clear him- 
self from debts which he had extravagantly con- 
tracted ? 

For what crime was he tried and condemned by a 
court martial ? 

12. How did his condemnation affect him ? 

What means did he fix upon for the purpose of ob- 

taining revenge ? 
For what purpose was Major Andre sent up the North 

River, near to the place where Arnold was ? 

13. What circumstances led to Andre's arrest by the 

American soldiers ? 

14. What did he do when he was arrested ? 
What did the soldiers do who took him ? 
What became of Arnold in the meantime ? 

15. What was finally done with Andre ? 

16. Give the circumstances of the mutiny which broke 

out in the American army in January, 1781. 

17. Did this affair happen from any want of affection 

for their country in the Americans ? 

How does this appear ? 

What effect did these things have upon congress ? 

Was it for the want of a disposition on the part of 
congress, or the want of the means, that the ne- 
cessities of the army were not better supplied ? 

18. What important measures were adopted by the 

government of Massachusetts this year ? 
What is set forth in the bill of rights ? 
What act was passed by the general assembly of 

Pennsylvania about the same time ? 



CHAPTER XX. 

1 . W^ho commanded the American army in the south 

in 1781 ? 
By what general movements was this array distin- 
guished this year ? 

2. What plan was fixed on by General Morgan by 

which to defeat the enemy ? 
How did he succeed ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 265 

3. What were the results of this battle, and what ren- 

dered the victory so conspicuous ? 

4. How did this victory affect Cornwallis ? 
What did he resolve to do ? 

What did General Greene do ? 

Describe some of the hardships endured by the 

Americans in their retreat from the pursuit of the 

enemy. 

5. Where did General Greene engage the British on 

the 8th of March, 1781 ? 
What was the result of this battle ? 
Where did General Greene next engage the enemy ? 
What caused him to fail of a complete victory this 

time ? 

6. By what event was the above defeat soon after 

counterbalanced ? 

7. Describe the next battle, which was fought at the 

Eutaw Springs. 

8. To what place had Cornwallis retired ? 

9. How large a force was now ready to attack Corn- 

wallis ? 
How and when was the battle begun at Yorktown ? 
When did Cornwallis surrender? 
How large was his army then ? 

10. What effect did this victory have upon the war? 
What did Washington order to be done to promote 

the general joy occasioned by this victory ? 
How did he direct that suitable acknowledgments 
should be made to the Lord for this victory ? 

11. What was done by Sir H, Clinton during the 

above time ? 
Describe some of the atrocities committed by the 
traitor, Arnold, in this expedition. 

12. How was the British ministry affected with the 

capture of a second entire army in America ? 
What important resolution was passed in the house 
of commons, on the 12th of March, 1782 ? 

13. What measures were soon after adopted by both 

nations ? 
What important event took place at Paris on No- 
vember 30th, 1782? 



266 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

When was the definite treaty of peace signed be- 
tween the United States and Great Britain ? 

14. What remarkable coincidence took place on April 

19th, 1783 ? 

15. Can you repeat some of the advice which General 
Washington addressed to the governors of the 
states when he retired from the army ? 

16. What pious desires were expressed by him for the 

good of the citizens and the nation at large ? 

17. When was the American army disbanded ? 

How did Washington express his affection for his 
companions in arms ? 

18. How did Washington take his leave of his officers ? 

19. When did Washington resign his commission to 

congress ? 
What did he say on that occasion ? 
What is the substance of the reply made by congress 

to what Washington said ? 



CHAPTER XXI. 

1. What reflections are naturally suggested by the 

events which we have gone over in the preceding 
pages ? 

2. What evils pressed upon the people after the return 

of peace ? 
To what amount was the nation in debt at the close 
of the war ? 

3. What means were proposed for the liquidation of 

this debt ? 

4. What prevented congress from the adoption of these 

means ? 
What evils followed ? 

5. By whom was the insurrection headed in Massa- 

chusetts ? 
What are some of the particulars of that affair? 
Was there any other difficulty of this kind ? 

6. Describe the convention which was held at Annapo- 

lis in September, 1786. 
To what other measures did this convention lead ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 267 

7. What was done by the convention which was held 

in Philadelphia in May, 1787 ? 
When did the states accept of the constitution pro- 
posed by this convention '^ 

8. Of what has this constitution stood for a number of 

years an imperishable monument ? 
In what does it vest the legislative power of the 

United States ? 
How is this congress constituted ? 

9. What has congress the power to do ? 

10. What are some of the things which congress may 
not do ? 

11. Where is the executive power of the United States 

vested ? 
How is the president elected ? 
What are some of his powers and duties ? 

12. Where is the judicial power of the United States 

vested ? 
To what cases does the judicial power of these courts 
extend ? 

13. What are some other distinguishing features of the 

constitution of the United States ? 

14. Who was chosen the first president of the United 

States under the new confederation ? 
Who was elected the first vice president ? 
When was the president inducted into oflice ? 
Where was this done ? 

15. What can you tell of the speech which Washing, 
ton delivered on that occasion ? 

16. In what did Washington believe the foundations 

of our national policy were laid ? 

17. In what appropriate duties did the president and 
congress next engage ? 

What should we never forget ? 

18. To what was the attention of congress directed 

immediately after the organization of the general 
government ? 
What measures were adopted for this purpose? 

19. How did congress again show their regard for the 
government of God, and how did they acknow- 
ledge their dependence upon him ? 



268 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

20. Describe the tour which the president made after 
the adjournment of congress. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

1. When did congress commence its next session? 
Describe the secretary's report which was made at 

this session ? 

2. How was this report disposed of? 

What measures were taken for carrying it into 

effect ? 
What was the effect of these measures upon the 

state of the nation ? 

3. What state was admitted into the union during this 

session of congress ? 
When was Kentucky admitted ? 
What expedition was planned about this time ? 

4. How did this expedition succeed ? 

How were the savages finally brought to terms of 
peace ? 

5. When was Washington inducted into the ofHce of 

the presidency the second time ? 
What was the state of things about this time in 

France ? 
How did this state of things affect this country ? 

6. On what serious question did Washington now con- 

suit his cabinet ? 
What did he afterward do ? 
How was this measure viewed by some ? 

7. What acts were passed by congress in March, 1794 ? 
What rendered it necessary to pass these acts ? 

8. What did congress do at this session in relation to 

the slave trade ? 

By whom were the first slaves introduced into this 
country ? 

By what means was this disgraceful traffic encou- 
raged in the colonies ? 

Mention some of the means which were early takeu 
by the colonies to oppose it. 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 269 

When was the first effort made in Virginia to op- 

' pose it ? , 1 • T> • 

9 Relate the circumstance which took place in Provi- 

dence at the commencement of the revolutionary 

From what facts does it appear that the United 
States were before Great Britain m their eitorts 
to abolish slavery ? „ .. ■ • 

And how does it appear that Great Britain is now 
before us in this good work ? 

10 What circumstances occurred which seemed likely 
to involve the United States in difficulty about 
this time ? . 

11. What measures were taken on these apprelien- 

sions ? 
What finally terminated them ? ■ ■ ,u 

12. What led to an insurrection in Pennsylvania in the 

summer of 1794? 

How was it suppressed ? ,.,.,. 

13 What were some of the reasons which induced 

Washington to decline standing for an election 

the third time to the office of president of the 

United States ? • • 17qc7 

What state was admitted into the union in 179b ! 

14. How did Washington signify his design to retire 

from public life ? 
What may be said of this address ? , . , 

15. Give the substance of the paragraph quoted here ! 

16 What is the substance of this quotation 7 

17 What is exhibited in the lan^age of this address ? 
What reflections does it suggest concerning the man 

who uttered it ? 
When did Washington die? 
Where did this event take place ? 
How did it affect the nation ? , , . , 

What means were adopted to express the high sense 

which was every where entertained of his worth ? 



270 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

1. Who was the next president of the United states? 
Wiiat do you observe concerning his first speech ? 

2. What interested the attention of congress soon after 

Mr. Adams came into office ? 
For what purpose had Mr. Pinkney been appointed 
minister to the court of France ? 

3. What reception did he meet with there? 

4. What did congress next do ? 

5. What kind of a reception did the next ministers 

meet with ? 

6. How did a knowledge of this affect the people 

throughout the United States ? 
When was this difficulty finally settled ? 
What engagement was fought just before this ? 

7. Describe the District of Columbia. 

When was the seat of government removed to 
Washington ? 

8. Who was the next president ? 
Who was elected vice president ? 

What have you to remark concerning the adminis- 
tration of Mr. Adams ? 
What concerning Mr. Jefferson's speech ? 

9. What are the sentiments here quoted from it? 

10. What are those quoted here ? 

11. What does he farther say ? 

12. What led to the war wiih the Algerines? 

What was done to chasten them for their insolence ? 

13. Describe the enterprise which was undertaken by 
Captain Eaton. 

How did he succeed ? 

14. What particulars are here detailed concerning 
him? 

15. When was Ohio admitted into the union ? 
What ordinance was previously passed by congress 

concerning this state ? 
When was Mr. Jefferson inducted into office the 

second time ? 
Who was chosen vice president for this term ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 271 

16. What noted event occurred in the summer of 
1807? 

17. What measures were soon after taken to redress 
this wrong ? 

18. What induced congress to lay an embargo upon 

all vessels within its jurisdiction about this time ? 
What warlike preparations were adopted about this 
time ? 

19. Who was tried on a charge of treason against the 

United States, in 1807 ? 
What led to suspicion against him ? 

20. What is said here concerning the embargo law ? 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

1. Who succeeded Mr. Jefferson in the presidency? 
When was Mr. Madison inducted into office ? 
What rendered the situation of the United States 

particularly gloomy and critical at this time ? 

2. To what subjects did the president call the attention 

of congress in June, 1812 ? 

3. What important question did he submit to their con- 

sideration ? 

What bill was passed by the house of representa- 
tives, June 4th ? 

When did it pass the senate ? 

When was war declared by the president of the Uni- 
ted States against Great Britain ? 

4. What were the views taken of this measure by the 

committee on foreign relations ? 

5. What were the views of the minority in the house 

of representatives concerning this step ? 

6. What measures were next adopted for carrying on 

this war ? 
What were the views and feelings of many in the 
nation at tliis time ? 

7. What difficulties lay in the way of our success in 

this war ? 

8. Who was appointed commander-in-chief? 



272 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

What important event occurred in the fall of 1812 ? 

9. What served to lessen the grief occasioned by this 

event ? 
Mention some of them. 

10. What other naval battles were fought soon after ? 
What were the results of some of them ? 

11. Describe the battle fought by Commodore Decatur 
soon after the above-mentioned battles. 

What class of men have long been proverbial for 

their generosity ? 
Give an instance which occurred after the above 

battle. 

12. Give the particulars of a battle fought on the 29th 
of December between the Constitution and Java. 

How was the American army divided and stationed 
at this time ? 

13. What extra measures were taken in the fall of 

1812 for carrying on the war ? 
For what purpose did the president call upon the 

several governors of the states ? 
How was this call obeyed ? 

14. What important event took place on March 4th» 

1813? 
Mention some of the military operations of this year» 

15. When and how was Fort George taken ? 
What took place soon after ? 

16. By what means was the United States frigate Che- 
sapeake captured ? 

How was this event viewed by the British ? 

17. Describe some of the naval engagements which 
followed the above in August and September. 

18. What took place at Cranby Island ? 

19. Give an account of the battle on Lake Erie. 

20. What farther account can you give of it ? 

21. What enterprise was soon after undertaken by 
General Harrison? 

22. How did he succeed ? 

23. What put a conclusion to the Indian war in the 
west ? 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 273 

CHAPTER XXV. 

1. What led to the appointment of comniissionors on 

the part of the United States to meet at St. Pe- 
tersburgh ? 

2. What was done on the second Thursday in Sep- 

tember, 1813? 
What have you to observe concerning the move- 
ments of the Indians at the south ? 

3. How were they brought to terms of peace ? 

4. What measures were adopted for the farther prose- 

cution of the war in December, 1813 ? 

5. What intelligence was communicated to congress 

at this session ? 
What did congress do upon this? 

6. Give some account of the naval engagements which 

were fought in the beginning of the year 1814. 

7. When and where was the first regular pitched bat- 

tle fought during this war ? 
Give an account of it. 

8. Give me some account of the battle which was 

fought near the Niagara Falls, July 25. 
What served to render the scene of this battle most 
solemn and awful ? 

9. What loss was sustained by both sides in the above 

battle ? 
What ineffectual attempt was made soon after by the 

enemy ? 
How did this attempt terminate ? 

10. Why did the movements of the British navy now 

particularly attract the attention of the American 
nation ? 
What events occurred in August, 1814 ? 

11. Give an account of the capture of the United 
States capital. 

Give an account of the attack on the city of Balti- 
more. 

12. What were the warlike movements in the town of 

Plattsburg about this time ? 

13. Give me an account of the different naval forces 

on Lake Champlain. 

18 



274 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

14. When and how was this battle commenced? 
How did it terminate on the lake ? 

15. How did the battle terminate upon the land ? 

16. What measure was proposed by the Massachusetts 

legislature with the view of relieving the nation 
from existing troubles ? 

17. Where and when did this convention meet? 
Give me some account of its doings ? 

18. When was the battle of New-Orleans fought? 
How was this battle brought about ? 

19. Give an account of this battle. 

20. What officers of the enemy were killed ? 
How many were lost by each party? 

21. W^hat events followed soon after the above battle ? 

22. What important event occurred in June of this 
year ? 

What led to the war with Algiers ? 

What important stipulation was made in the treaty 

of peace with England ? 
In what language was it expressed ? 
When was Indiana admitted into the uni<m ? 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

1. W^ho was the next president of the United Statea 

after Mr. Madison ? 
When did Mr. Monroe take the oath of office ? 
Of what did he take an enlightened view in iiis 

speech ? 
Give the sense of the first quotation from it. 

2. What is tlie substance of the second quotation ? 

3. Give me some account of the president's tour ? 

4. When was the state of Illinois admitted into the 

union ? 
What do you observe with regard to its constitution ? 
Give me some account of the Seminole war? 

5. What important treaty was concluded in February, 

1819? 
What territory was erected into a separate govern, 
ment by an act of congress this year ? 



HISTOJRY OF THE UNITED STATES. 275 

What other states were admitted into the union ? 
How many states were there in the union up to 

this date, 1821 ? 
Can you repeat all their names ? 

6. When was Mr. Monroe inducted into office the 

second time, as president of the United States ? 

Who was elected vice president for the term com- 
mencing at this time ? 

What remarks were made by tlie president in his 
inaugural address ? 

7. What territorial government was established by 

congress in the spring of this year ? 

Who was appointed governor ? 

What society was formed in Massachusetts in 1822 ? 

What law was enacted by congress two years be- 
fore this ? 

What may we suppose defeats the object of this law ? 

How so ? 

8. What is it reasonable to suppose would be the con- 

sequence had the penalty of this law been less 



severe 



Why so ? 

What painful inconsistency may be observed in the 

doings of congress in relation to slavery ? 
What kind of prisons are found in the District of 

Columbia ? 
What kind of traffic is carried on there ? 
How can it be anymore of a sin to enslave men on 

the coast of Africa, than it is in Washington or 

any other part of the United States ? 

9. What distinguished person arrived in this country 

in the summer of 1824 ? 
How was he received here ? 
What was the view which the president gave of the 

country at the second session of the eighteenth 

congress ? 

10. Who was the next president of the United States 

after Mr. Monroe ? 
How was he elected ? 
Why was he chosen in this way ? 
When did Mr. Adams enter upon Ins term of office ? 



276 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

What did he do in his first speech before congress 
after his election ? 

11. Relate the substance of this extract from it. 

12. What remark have you to make concerning Mr. 
J. Q. Adams's administration ? 

For what was the 4th of July, 1826, remarkable ? 
What singular coincidence occurred on this day ? 
What reflections are suggested by this circumstance? 

13. What do you observe concerning the period at 

which this history commences ? 
What have we seen in tracing the course of events 
since that time ? 

14. What cannot be too distinctly impressed upon the 

mind ? 
What becomes the duty of all the citizens of the 

United States from this fact ? 
What do you remark concerning all fathers, mothers 

and children in these United States ? 
What will be the consequence if we neglect these 

duties ? 
What are some of these duties? 
What blessings will follow if we faithfully perform 

them? 



CONTENTS. 



Dedication Page 3 

Preface ........ 5 

Introduction 7 

Chapter I. — Discovery of America by Cabot and 

Columbus 9 

II. — British colonies — the first permanent set- 

tlement in Virginia .... 15 

III. — British colonies — settlement of New Eng- 
land 20 

IV. — Settlements — Indian wars, &c . . 26 

V. — Settlements — war with the Indians . . 35 

VI. — Oppression of the colonies — Insurrection 

in Virginia ...... 42 

VII. — Reflections — state of this country when 
first discovered — character and habits of the 
natives — their decline and extinction — 
progress of civilization — character and 
manners of the colonists . . . .48 

VIII. — The charters restored, or renewed to the 

colonies — witchcraft — King William's war 53 

IX. — War of the colonies with the Indians — 

Spaniards — and French . * • .61 

X. — War with France and the Indians . 70 

XI. — ;War with the French — conquest of Ca- 
nada 78 

XII. — Acts passed by Great Britain to tax the 
colonies — measures taken by the colonies 
to oppose them ..... 86 

XIII. — Other acts passed to tax the colonies — 

the colonies refuse to submit to them . 98 
XIV. — First continental congress — open hosti- 
lities against the colonies — war with Eng- 
land 107 

XV. — The British evacuate Boston — declaration 

of independence 121 



278 CONTENTS. 

Chapter XVI. — Battle on Long Island — White 

Plains — Trenton — and Princeton . .130 
XVII.— Campaign of 1777 .... 137 
XVIII.— Campaign of 1778 and '79 . . . 147 
XIX.— Campaign of 1780 .... 158 
XX. — Campaign of 1781 — and close of the war 166 
XXI. — Formation and adoption of the federal 
constitution — Inauguration of Washington 
as president of the United States . . 177 
XXII. — Washington's administration — War 
with the north-western Indians — Re-elec- 
tion of Washington to the presidency . 187 
XXIII. — The administration of John Adams 

and Thomas Jefferson . . . .197 
XXIV. — The administration of James Madison, 

and war with Great Britain . . . 206 

XXV. — Progress of the war — Declaration of 

peace 218 

XXVI. — James Monroe's administration — J. Q. 
*■ Adams elected president . . . 228 



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